Worldwide

South Korea reports $1.7 billion increase in revenue, yet faces $62.43 billion fiscal deficit in first 8 months of 2024

The finance ministry noted that this year's deficit is the third-largest ever for the specified timeframe

European Council to mobilize $100 billion annually in climate finance through 2025

The council reaffirmed its commitment to climate finance and aims for new targets beyond 2025.

Major multilateral banks have $480 billion headroom in new lending before rating downgrades: Fitch

The three biggest multilateral development banks by total assets have the most lending headroom in billions of U.S. dollars

South Korea inks $2 billion agreement with Philippines to boost infrastructure projects in developing nations 

The deal stipulates that Korea will allocate $905 million from the fund for the construction of the initial segment of the Laguna Lake Road Network 

South Korea’s foreign reserves up for third month to $419.97 billion in September 2024

The BOK attributed the rise to higher non-dollar asset values, driven by a weaker U.S. dollar and investment gains 

China’s external financial assets surpass $9.79 trillion by end of June

Financial liabilities exceeded $6.8 trillion at the same date, resulting in net external assets of nearly $2.99 trillion 

South Korea, China, and Japan unite to tackle plastic pollution

The three countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in reducing yellow dust levels, particularly in collaboration with Mongolia 

China’s international trade reaches $585.2 billion in August, 4 percent YoY growth

The nation's exports of goods and services totaled $322.4 billion, while imports were recorded at $263.5 billion

Swiss National Bank lowers interest rate to 1.0 percent as inflation falls

Inflation fell to 1.1 percent in August from 1.4 percent in May, partly due to a stronger Swiss franc 

Microsoft pledges $2.7 billion investment in Brazil’s cloud, AI infrastructure

Microsoft will also launch ConectAI to train five million people over the next three years with AI skills

Global economic growth to stabilize at 3.2 percent this year, says OECD

Headline inflation in the G20 economies to ease to 5.4 percent in 2024 and 3.3 percent in 2025

Microsoft to invest $1.3 billion in Mexico’s cloud, AI infrastructure

Comapany also announced that it will continue to invest in the application of AI, by leveraging the AI for Good program

U.S. home prices rise slightly in July 2024 amid slowing momentum, improving supply conditions

Mortgage rates drop to 4.75 percent to 5.00 percent range as housing affordability improves

U.S. fiscal profile expected to deteriorate under incoming administration, says Moody’s

The report stated that the new administration will face a worsening fiscal landscape as debt affordability declines

U.S. consumer confidence falls to 98.7 amid labor fears, largest drop since August 2021 

Despite sharp decline in index, more households expressed intentions to purchase homes in the next six months

Elon Musk reveals plans for five uncrewed Mars missions

Musk has often revised Starship timelines, claiming uncrewed Mars landings in five years and human landings in seven 

Japan’s land prices rise 1.4 percent as of July, marking three years of growth since 1992

This trend is attributed to heightened foreign investment spurred by the weak yen 

South Korea’s KASA, NASA collaborate on deep space exploration, lunar research, and space traffic management

The two entities pledged to identify innovative projects in space life sciences and deep space antennas

U.S. current account deficit soars to $266.8 billion, reaching two-year high due to import surge

This deficit reached 3.7 percent of GDP, the highest since Q2 2022, up from 3.4 percent in Q1

U.S. unemployment claims drop to four-month low in September, signaling economic strength amid rate cuts

Initial claims fell by 12,000 to 219,000 for the week ending September 14 

Bank of England holds rates at 5 percent, boosting pound to over two-year highs

The Committee unanimously cut U.K. government bond purchases by $93.77 billion, reducing the total to $523.58 billion