March 5, 2024
United States:
Americans Now Pay as Much Interest on Other Debt as on Mortgages
US households are now paying roughly as much interest on other kinds of debt, from credit cards to student loans, as they are on their mortgages, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Non-mortgage interest payments climbed to an annual rate of $573.4 billion in January. That’s the highest on record even after adjusting for inflation — and within a hair’s breadth of the $578.3 billion in annual mortgage interest that households were shelling out as of the last quarter of 2023.
Europe:
Euro-Area Inflation Reaches 2% in BE Nowcast Just as ECB Policymakers Meets
European Central Bank officials about to meet in Frankfurt this week can take heart: according to a Nowcast of inflation, they’ve already got it down to their 2% target.
The gauge compiled by Bloomberg Economics, incorporating 32 variables ranging from unemployment to energy costs, has just hit 1.95% — after a drop in January producer prices published on Tuesday fed into the model.
Asia:
China Sets GDP Goal That Needs Policy Support ‘From All Fronts’
China set its annual growth target at around 5%, an ambitious goal that will put pressure on the nation’s top leaders to unleash more stimulus as they try to lift confidence in an economy hampered by a property slump and entrenched deflation.
Premier Li Qiang acknowledged the challenges facing the world’s second-largest economy as he delivered his first work report to the national parliament at its opening Tuesday. “It is not easy for us to realize these targets,” he told thousands of delegates assembled at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. “We need policy support and joint efforts from all fronts.”
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