Today's Best of BS Opinion examines rising sugar prices, AI-led credit assessment, global trade dualism, mounting US fiscal risks and China's reshaping of collective memory.
A pain-free budget consolidation is wishful thinking, not least because of AI
US national debt has crossed $40 trillion. Here's a guide to how government debt works, why governments borrow, who they owe money to, how they repay it and what debt ceilings mean
The US government is spending far more than it collects in revenue, with rising interest costs, social security and Medicare outlays, defence spending and tax cuts widening the fiscal gap
The national debt surpassed a record USD 40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit to make up an enormous share of federal spending. The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the US hit a record USD 39 trillion debt in March. It reached USD 38 trillion five months before that, in October. The unprecedented USD 40 trillion figure highlights competing administration priorities, from boosting the defense spending that the US relies on to carry out President Donald Trump's almost-6-month-old Iran war to lowering the cost of gas and groceries. Kush Desai, a White House spokesman, said the Trump administration "has been focused on slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to get America's debt-to-GDP ratio trending in the right direction." However, experts say the exploding debt and the latest record milestone is ..
The IMF pointed to a narrowing gap between the yields of AAA rated corporate bonds and Treasuries as a sign of reduced appeal for US government securities
India's finance minister said last week the RBI was taking a "very considered decision" to diversify reserves - which currently stands at about $694 billion dollars, the fourth-biggest in the world
Historically, most debt and inflation crises have occurred when governments that could have met their obligations in full instead chose inflation or default
US national debt reached record USD 37 trillion. The national debt eclipsed this new milestone years sooner than pre-pandemic projections. The Congressional Budget Office's January 2020 projections predicted the US reaching the milestone after fiscal year 2030. But the debt grew faster than expected as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the US economy and the Trump and Biden administrations borrowed heavily to stabilise the national economy.
The US government's gross national debt has surpassed USD37 trillion, a record number that highlights the accelerating debt on America's balance sheet and increased cost pressures on taxpayers. The USD37 trillion update is found in the latest Treasury Department report issued Tuesday which logs the nation's daily finances. The national debt eclipsed USD37 trillion years sooner than pre-pandemic projections. The Congressional Budget Office's January 2020 projections had gross federal debt eclipsing USD37 trillion after fiscal year 2030. But the debt grew faster than expected because of a multi-year COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020 that shut down much of the U.S. economy, where the federal government borrowed heavily under then-President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden to stabilise the national economy and support a recovery. And now, more government spending has been approved after Trump signed into law Republicans' tax cut and spending legislation earlier this year. Th
Donald Trump's tariffs have generated $150 billion in revenue, but questions remain on how it will be used amid deficit and debt concerns
The BSE Sensex fell as much as 1.06 per cent or 869.52 points to 80,727.11. Similarly, the NSE Nifty50 dropped 1.09 per cent or 361.85 points to 24,541.60.
With little indication of trade deals on the way, markets are struggling for direction, analysts said
Sensex today | Stock Market Highlights on Monday, May 19, 2025: The Nifty Smallcap100 index rose by 0.51 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap100 index ended with a modest gain of 0.07 per cent
Trump told reporters that the effort to slash spending could cut $1 trillion from the federal budget, which totaled $6.75 trillion in the most recent fiscal year
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said her agency will need to start taking extraordinary measures, or special accounting maneuvers intended to prevent the nation from hitting the debt ceiling, as early as January 14, in a letter sent to congressional leaders Friday afternoon. "Treasury expects to hit the statutory debt ceiling between January 14 and January 23," Yellen wrote in a letter addressed to House and Senate leadership, at which point extraordinary measures would be used to prevent the government from breaching the nation's debt ceiling which has been suspended until Jan 1, 2025. The department has in the past deployed what are known as extraordinary measures or accounting maneuvers to keep the government operating. But once those measures run out the government risks defaulting on its debt unless lawmakers and the president agree to lift the limit on the US government's ability to borrow. "I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the ..
Earlier this month, Moody's lowered its outlook on the US credit rating to "negative" from "stable" citing large fiscal deficits and a decline in debt affordability
The Congressional Budget Office is giving the world a concerning look at the US government's ledgers: ever higher deficits, greater government spending and tax revenues that only begin to increase when existing tax cuts expire. The nonpartisan agency estimates in its latest 30-year outlook, released Wednesday, that publicly held debt will be equal to a record 181 per cent of American economic activity by 2053. That compares with a projected 98 per cent at the end of this budget year, a sign the government is getting more dependent on debt to pay for Social Security, Medicare, the military, infrastructure and an array of programs that benefit millions of households. The higher debt load is not all that shocking given the deficit spending of the past two decades. But the CBO figures do offer a bit of comfort in that annual deficits after 2042 are lower than forecasted in the agency's report from last year. This is because the primary borrowing and interest rate costs are lower than wha
In New York, a cohort of debt-relief activists and US state politicians are pushing for a more-permanent solution: a law that would overhaul the process of restructuring sovereign debt
The negotiations around the US debt ceiling have been slow, but media reports suggest that US President Biden and US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy appeared to be nearing a deal on Thursday