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Wednesday, September 9Wednesday, September 9
Europe’s borrowing costs are surging as governments ramp up spending on defense, infrastructure, and pensions, straining budgets already under pressure from rising debt servicing demands.
France now allocates around 6 percent of government revenue to servicing old debt, up from 3 percent in 2019, while German bund yields have hit their highest levels since 2011. Germany’s 2026 federal budget requires nearly €180 billion in new borrowing, and bond issuance across Europe is at a record pace. The European Central Bank’s decision to stop reinvesting bond holdings has forced markets to absorb roughly €384 billion more this year, adding an estimated 0.6 percentage points to euro-area borrowing costs, according to ECB chief economist Isabel Schnabel .
External shocks are compounding the pressure. The Iran war has pushed eurozone inflation to 3.3 percent in August, its highest in nearly three years, prompting bond buyers to demand higher returns. By June, borrowing costs across the eurozone had risen by around half a percentage point since the war began. Structural shifts are also at play: the EU’s Savings and Investments Union aims to channel more retirement funds into equities, reducing demand for government bonds. The Netherlands alone is transitioning roughly €1.5 trillion in pension assets to a defined-contribution system, further shrinking the pool of buyers for long-term bonds that finance infrastructure like railways and power grids .
US tech giants issuing long-dated corporate bonds in European markets are adding competition for investors, the ECB warned this week, potentially driving government borrowing costs even higher .
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Yen surges on new intervention talk; oil prices climb The yen rallied against the dollar on Thursday on fresh talk of intervention by Japan to boost its currency, while oil prices jumped on new Iran strikes against…
japantoday · 5 days ago
Reform UK plans investor roadshow to build confidence in its economic approach reut.rs/4xC450S
bluesky_Reuters · 5 days ago
US fixed 30-year mortgage rate rises to highest since July 2025 reut.rs/4h85JSa
bluesky_Reuters · 5 days ago
Unions push for changes to pension penalty The 12 per cent pension reduction imposed on people who retire at 63 dominated discussions at the Labour Advisory Board on Thursday as negotiations over the governments pension reform continued. The government presented its proposal in detail, while social partners outlined their positions and reservations, stressing the need for a full financial assessment of the […]
cyprus mail · 5 days ago
Alexandru Nazare, înaintea evaluării agenției S&P din octombrie: „Nu vrem să lăsăm o țară îndatorată copiilor și nepoților noștri Ministrul interimar al Finanțelor, Alexandru Nazare, anunță că agenția de rating Standard & Poors va publica raportul de țară al României pe 2 octombrie. Nazare spune că evaluarea reprezintă un nou test important pentru țara noastră.
adevarul · 5 days ago
Opinion | Tolstoys Debt Crisis: Each Country Unhappy in Its Own Way The U.S. has an unlikely advantage: Social Security is running out of money, which will force a reform.
wsj · 5 days ago
EU enters winter with lowest gas stocks on record Situation could become problematic, warns gas storage group head
financial times · 5 days ago
Farage pledges to slash UK energy bills Farages deputy called energy prices a "national crisis.
politico.eu · 5 days ago
New bus and rail fare hikes mark a turning point Exchequer subvention of bus and rail services had reached €940m this year
irish times · 5 days ago
Capacitatea UE de a se apăra împotriva unei invazii rămâne sub semnul întrebării: „Există în continuare dificultăți majore Capacitatea UE de a răspunde la o invazie străină până în 2030 rămâne sub semnul întrebării din cauza dependenței continue de SUA și a sistemelor de apărare naționale fragmentate, potrivit unui raport al auditorului său oficial, relatează The Guardian.
digi24 · 5 days ago
Nigel Farages Reform UK will promise to use its first 100 days in government to ditch a string of policy costs from energy bills, a move the party claims would save people £250 per year. It will be announced at the partys annual conference in Birmingham on Friday.
bluesky_Politico Europe · 5 days ago
Turkeys 2026 GDP growth to come in below government target, says vice president Ankaras new medium-term economic programme will be released on September 6, he adds.
intellinews · 5 days ago
Value of Fiscalised Receipts Up By 17 in Croatia in August September the 4th, 2026 – The value of fiscalised receipts and invoices was up by 17 in August across Croatia. This was specifically in the provision of accommodation and food prep. Poslovni reports that in addition to the aforementioned, 274.6 million invoices were issued in total last month, which is 8.9 million or 3.3 percent ... Read more The post Value of Fiscalised Receipts Up By 17 in Croatia in August appeared first on Total Croatia.
total croatia news · 5 days ago
⚡️Ukraine risks billions in international funding amid stalled legislation, growing budget shortfall. Lawmakers failed to advance bills tied to Ukraines commitments to the IMF, despite Serhii Koretskyis warning that failure to meet the commitments could pose a "significant financial risk".
bluesky_Kyiv Independent · 5 days ago
The 24-hour CRA deadline is changing software supply chain visibility According to an analysis published by The Hacker News, manufacturers of products with digital elements sold in the European Union will face a September 11 deadline under the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) to notify regulators within 24 hours after learning that a vulnerability is being actively exploited, with a fuller report due within 72 hours. […] This story continues at The Next Web
the next web · 5 days ago
Govt: pension reform remains on track for 2027 Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Thursday that talks on pension reform were in full swing, stressing that implementation remained on track for 2027. Today, discussions at the Labour Advisory Board continued, moving on to the substantive aspects of the governments proposal, including issues concerning low-income pensioners and actuarial adjustment, he said. Letymbiotis added that […]
cyprus mail · 5 days ago
Deficitul scade, dar pericolul rămâne: ce spune ministrul Finanțelor despre viitorul economic și ratingul României Ministrul interimar al Finanţelor, Alexandru Nazare, anunţă joi că Standard & Poors va publica raportul de ţară pe 2 octombrie, fiind un examen la fel de important ca şi celelalte. El mai spune că cheltuielile cu dobânzile au crescut până în luna iulie cu peste 26 şi am depăşit 40 de miliarde. Nazare mai arată că, dacă nu reuşim să ţinem deficitul sub control, în următorii ani, aceste cheltuieli vor creşte şi mai mult.
digi24 · 5 days ago
Brisanter Bericht: Rechnungshof: Der Bund ist auf dem Weg in die Schuldenfalle Die unabhängige Behörde sieht die Regierung auf einem bedenklichen Kurs: Steigende Zinsausgaben führten zur Aufnahme von noch mehr Krediten. Sie rechnet schon mit mindestens drei Billionen Euro Schulden im Jahr 2030.
faz · 5 days ago
A record 47 want stronger unions. Labors challenge is turning support into power. For only the second time in a quarter century, a majority of Republicans — 52 — approve of labor unions, according to a new Gallup poll.Why it matters: Despite Americans rising approval, union membership remains near a modern low. Congress has repeatedly blocked labors biggest priorities, and House Republicans are now investigating unions, even as their own voters approve of them.Republicans warmer feelings toward unions dont translate into wanting them to wield more power: 49 of Republicans want unions to have less influence, compared with just 19 who want them to have more.Data: Gallup Poll Social Series; Chart: Andrew Pantazi/AxiosBy the numbers: Overall, 71 of Americans approved of unions, tying the 2022 level. Gallup last recorded higher approval in 1959 at 73.Approval stands at 89 among Democrats, 70 among independents and 52 among Republicans. The only other time since 2001 that Gallup found majority Republican approval was in 2022.A record 47 of Americans want unions to have more influence, more than double the 23 who want less influence. Another 26 want their influence to remain the same.The big picture: The latest numbers mark a reversal from the Great Recession. In 2009, union approval bottomed out at 48, and 42 of Americans wanted unions to have less influence while just 25 wanted them to have more.Reality check: Americans are embracing unions at a time when few workers belong to one. Just 11 of U.S. workers — 16.5 million — were represented by unions in 2025, compared with 23 and 20.5 million workers in 1983, the first year of comparable data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.The most recent year included union representation for less than 7 of private-sector workers.State of play: Workers have been trying to make up for lost time. Union election petitions filed with the National Labor Relations Board more than doubled from 2021 to 3,286 in 2024. The agency received 2,633 election petitions last year, down from the prior years peak but still well above earlier years.Americans are skeptical that todays goodwill will translate into greater strength. Just 27 expect unions to become stronger, while 39 expect them to weaken and 29 expect little change, according to the Gallup polling.Data: Gallup Poll Social Series; Chart: Andrew Pantazi/AxiosZoom in: Organized labor has repeatedly failed to turn Democratic control of Washington into its biggest legislative prize: rewriting federal law to make it easier for workers to join unions and to win contracts.The Employee Free Choice Act, a signature priority at the start of the Obama administration, would have made it easier for workers to unionize when a majority of workers signed cards. Despite overwhelming Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, it never became law.In 2021, the House passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, the next sweeping attempt to rewrite federal labor law, with five Republicans joining Democrats.But it stalled in the Senate where Republicans and even Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly, Mark Warner and Kyrsten Sinema withheld their support.Between the lines: President Biden leaned on executive action and appointments, creating a task force to promote organizing and pushing the NLRB to favor unionizing workers. In 2023, he became the first president to join striking workers on a picket line, standing with autoworkers in Michigan.The environment has swung sharply. President Trump has used executive orders to remove collective bargaining rights for broad swaths of the federal workforce and to fire the labor boards pro-union general counsel and a Democratic board member.The latest: House Republicans have also intensified scrutiny of union leadership, launching investigations into the United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers, the American Federation of Teachers and three railroad unions, demanding records about political activity.The bottom line: Labor has won back popularity it lost during decades of decline, but its harder fight is turning that goodwill into bargaining power and growing its membership.The fine print: Gallup surveyed 1,200 U.S. adults by cellphone and landline Aug. 3–24. The overall margin of error is 4 percentage points.
axios · 5 days ago
Japans FSA to inspect shinkin banks over rising rates, bond losses Japans financial regulator will inspect the government bond holdings of community-focused shinkin banks amid concerns that rising long-term interest rates could deepen unrealized losses and weaken their financial…
japantoday · 5 days ago
Europe wants to spend more but its own policies are making it harder Europe wants to invest more. But it does so precisely when the cost of doing so is rising too.
euobserver · 5 days ago
Česko by se nemělo tak zadlužovat. V příštích letech nás správa dluhu vyjde mnohem dráž, míní Hampl Národní rozpočtová rada uvádí, že se letošní plánovaný schodek 310 miliard podaří dodržet. Ve své pravidelné zprávě se zmiňuje také o tom, že je návrh rozpočtu na rok 2027 se schodkem 389 miliard výrazně expanzivní. „Teprve v září proběhne debata o tom, jak bude vláda distribuovat rezervu, která je v návrhu rozpočtu zahrnuta, říká pro Radiožurnál Mojmír Hampl, předseda Národní rozpočtové rady.
irozhlas.cz · 5 days ago
La défense européenne ne sera pas au point dici 2030 : Il sera difficile de soutenir des opérations militaires de haute intensité La Cour des comptes européenne pointe dans un rapport les avancées et les lacunes de la politique de Défense de lUnion. Malgré des financements et une capacité de production accrus, les objectifs fixés seront difficiles à atteindre. En raison, notamment, dune trop grande fragmentation financière, industrielle et politique. ...
la libre · 5 days ago
Disy backs pension reform without higher contributions or retirement age The governments pension reform must deliver sustainable and adequate pensions without increasing contributions or the retirement age, Disy president Annita Demetriou said on Thursday after meeting Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas. The meeting was part of the governments consultations with parliamentary parties ahead of the submission of the pension reform bill to the House, with Mousiouttas […]
cyprus mail · 5 days ago
GDP grew by 4.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026 Gross domestic product in the second quarter of this year grew by 4.3 percent, compared to the same period in 2025, the State Statistical Bureau (DZS) announced. In the second quarter of 2026, large increase was recorded in the construction sector – by 21.9 and by 5.1 in the sector: arts, entertainment and recreation. Final […] The post GDP grew by 4.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026 appeared first on Republika English.
republika macedonia · 5 days ago
Labour wants €100+ monthly grocery shopping supplement for families in this years budget Labours Ged Nash said it will be a difficult winter for families to put food on the table.
thejournal · 5 days ago
Natural gas price hits €75 per MWh, matching 2022 crisis levels European gas prices have surged to €75 per megawatt‑hour, reaching levels not seen since the 2022 energy crisis, with further rises possibly on the way.
news.err · 5 days ago