Disclosing Public Debt Boosts Investor Confidence, Cuts Borrowing Costs 

June 12, 2025--Greater debt transparency builds investor confidence, helps reduce borrowing costs, and strengthens debt sustainability-reducing the risk of shocks that can lead to a debt crisis
Public debt is projected to reach nearly 100 percent of global gross domestic product by the end of this decade, surpassing even pandemic-level highs.

Governments, particularly those in emerging market and developing economies, face both mounting debt service costs and shrinking room to maneuver in government budgets.

The result is fewer resources for social programs or investments, reduced capacity to respond to shocks, and higher borrowing costs.

In addition to issuing more debt, countries are increasingly using complex and opaque forms of financing. New debt instruments such as guaranteed, securitized, and collateralized debt contracts linked to public-private partnerships, state-owned enterprises, or SOEs, and pension funds have appeared on the scene.

WTO issues new edition of World Tariff Profiles

July 7, 2025-The WTO published on 7 July the 2025 edition of World Tariff Profiles, which provides comprehensive data on the tariffs and non-tariff measures imposed by over 170 economies. It is a joint publication of the WTO, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The publication provides summary tables listing the average "bound" (maximum) tariffs and applied tariffs for each economy for both agricultural and non-agricultural products as of end-2024.

Flow Traders-Tokenization in Capital Markets: A Market Maker's Perspective

July 3, 2025-Tokenization unlocks efficiencies like instant settlement, 24/7 trading, and fractional ownership-but real-world adoption depends on solving infrastructure and regulatory challenges, not just technology.
Market makers face key friction points in tokenized markets: fragmented liquidity requiring pre-funding across blockchains, lack of product-market fit without real demand, and operational complexity from 24/7 trading.