Global ETF News Older than One Year
Rising Global Debt Requires Countries to Put their Fiscal House in Order
April 23, 2025--Amid heightened uncertainty, policymakers will need to deal with complex trade-offs between debt, slower growth, and new spending pressures
Major policy shifts underway have heightened global uncertainty. The series of recent tariff announcements by the United States, and countermeasures by other countries have increased financial market volatility, weakened growth prospects, and increased risks.
They come in the context of rising debt levels in many countries and already strained public finances, which in many cases will also need to accommodate new and permanent increases in spending, such as defense. Rising yields in major economies and widening spreads in emerging markets further complicate the fiscal landscape.
We project global public debt to increase by 2.8 percentage points this year-more than twice the estimates for 2024-pushing debt levels above 95 percent of gross domestic product. This upward trend is likely to continue, with public debt nearing 100 percent of GDP by the end of the decade, surpassing pandemic levels.
Source: IMF.org
ETFGI reports record Q1 net inflows of US$463.51 billion into the global ETFs industry
April 22, 2025-ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm renowned for its expertise in subscription research, consulting services, events, and ETF TV on global ETF industry trends, reports record Q1 net inflows of US$463.51 billion into the global ETFs, according to ETFGI's March 2025 Global ETFs and ETPs industry landscape insights report, the monthly report which is part of an annual paid-for research subscription service.
Highlights
Record Q1net inflows of $463.51 Bn, while the second highest Q1 net inflows were $397.51 Bn in 2024 and the third highest Q1 net inflows were of $360.72 Bn in 2021.
Net inflows of $158.81 Bn during March.
70th month of consecutive net inflows.
Assets of $15.19 Tn invested in the ETFs industry globally at the end of March, below the record high assets of $15.50 Tn at the end of February 2025.
Assets increased 1.6% YTD in 2025, going from $14.85 Tn at end of 2024 to $15.19 Tn.
Source: ETFGI
The Global Economy Enters a New Era
April 22, 2025-Amid trade tensions and high policy uncertainty, the path forward will be determined by how challenges are confronted and opportunities embraced
The global economic system under which most countries have operated for the last 80 years is being reset, ushering the world into a new era. Existing rules are challenged while new ones are yet to emerge.
Since late January, a flurry of tariff announcements by the United States, which started with Canada, China, Mexico and critical sectors, culminated with near universal levies on April 2. The US effective tariff rate surged past levels reached during the Great Depression while counter-responses from major trading partners significantly pushed up the global rate.
Source: IMF.org
IMF World Economic Outlook-A Critical Juncture amid Policy Shifts
April 22, 2025-Global growth is expected to decline and downside risks to intensify as major policy shifts unfold
After enduring a prolonged and unprecedented series of shocks, the global economy appeared to have stabilized, with steady yet underwhelming growth rates. However, the landscape has changed as governments around the world reorder policy priorities and uncertainties have climbed to new highs. Forecasts for global growth have been revised markedly down compared with the January 2025 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update, reflecting effective tariff rates to levels not seen in a century and a highly unpredictable environment.
Global headline inflation is expected to decline at a slightly slower pace than what was expected in January.
Intensifying downside risks dominate the outlook, amid escalating trade tensions and financial market adjustments. Divergent and swiftly changing policy positions or deteriorating sentiment could lead to even tighter global financial conditions. Ratcheting up a trade war and heightened trade policy uncertainty may further hinder both short-term and long-term growth prospects. Scaling back international cooperation could jeopardize progress toward a more resilient global economy.
Source: IMF.org
IMF-Global Financial Stability Report-Enhancing Resilience amid Uncertainty
April 22, 2025-Global financial stability risks have increased significantly, driven by tighter global financial conditions and heightened trade and geopolitical uncertainty. Against the heightened volatility of asset prices, Chapter 1 assesses that global financial stability risks have increased significantly.
This assessment is supported by three key forward-looking vulnerabilities: (i) valuations remain high in some key markets; (ii) some highly leveraged financial institutions and their nexus with banking systems; and (iii) risks of market turmoil and challenges to debt sustainability for highly indebted sovereigns.
Source: IMF.org
Fear and Hope: Bybit x Santiment Social Sentiment Report on OM Collapse and XPR ETF
April 18, 2025-Bybit, the world's second-argest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has released a comprehensive social sentiment analysis report in collaboration with crypto market intelligence platform Santiment, uncovering critical insights into two contrasting narratives currently shaping the crypto landscape: the unprecedented collapse of MANTRA's OM token and growing optimism surrounding potential XRP ETF approvals.
MANTRA's OM token experienced a catastrophic 90% price drop on Apr. 13, 2025, erasing over $5.4 billion in market cap. The project blamed it on forced liquidations by exchanges, while on-chain analytics revealed suspicious trading activity prior to the collapse.
Meanwhile, Teucrium's launch of the first US-based XRP ETF (ticker: XXRP) generated over $5 million in volume on its first trading day, reflecting rising institutional interest.
Source: Bybit
OECD-5 things you should know about international trade statistics
April 17, 2025--What are trade balances?
Put simply, a trade balance is the difference between an economy's exports and its imports over a given period. When exports are higher than imports, we see a trade surplus. When the opposite is true, i.e. when the value of imports exceeds the value of exports, then a trade deficit is recorded.
When someone thinks about international trade, chances are they're thinking about cross-border trade in goods.
According to recent WTO estimates1, goods worth over USD 24 trillion crossed at least one international border in 2024. These goods include agricultural products, raw materials, energy, and a broad range of manufactured goods such as machinery, transport equipment, electronics, and much more.
Cross-border trade in goods statistics are available at a high level of detail, so exports, imports and balances can be analysed for specific commodities between individual trading partners. Indeed, bilateral trade balances can look very different than the total balance of a country with the rest of the world, which is derived by aggregating the figures across all commodities and partners.
Of course, goods are only one component of international trade; services also play a crucial role. But before talking about services, let's dig deeper into some important methodological concepts.
Source: oecdstatistics.blog
Global trade faces setback amid rising tariffs
April 16, 2025-The WTO Secretariat's latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report, issued today (16 April), comes at a time of growing uncertainty for the global economy- and with it, a sharp deterioration in the prospects for world trade.
Following a strong performance in 2024, global trade is now facing headwinds from a surge in tariffs and rising trade policy uncertainty.
The volume of world merchandise trade is projected to decline by 0.2 per cent in 2025- almost three percentage points lower than it would have been without the recent policy shifts. A modest recovery of 2.5 per cent is expected in 2026.
This marks a notable reversal from forecasts earlier this year, when WTO economists anticipated continued trade expansion, supported by improving macroeconomic conditions.
Source: WTO (World Trade Organization)
IEA-Oil Market Report-April 2025
April 15, 2025--Highlights
Global oil demand growth for 2025 has been revised down by 300 kb/d since last month's Report to 730 kb/d, as escalating trade tensions have negatively impacted the economic outlook. Growth is expected to slow further in 2026, to 690 kb/d, but risks to the forecasts remain rife given the fast-moving macro backdrop. The downgrade comes on the heels of robust oil consumption in 1Q25, up by 1.2 mb/d y-o-y-its strongest rate since 2023.
World oil supply rose by 590 kb/d to 103.6 mb/d in March, up 910 kb/d y-o-y, with non-OPEC+ leading both monthly and annual gains. OPEC+ will lift output targets by 411 kb/d in May, but the increase may be substantially lower given overproduction by some countries. Global supply growth for 2025 has been cut by 260 kb/d to 1.2 mb/d, due to a decrease in US and Venezuelan output. Production in 2026 is set to rise by 960 kb/d, with offshore projects taking the lead.
Global crude runs are forecast to average 83.2 mb/d this year, as demand growth expectations cut the projected annual increase by 230 kb/d to 340 kb/d. In 2026, throughputs are set to rise by 360 kb/d to 83.6 mb/d. Refining margins were mixed in March, with declines in the Atlantic Basin but gains for processing sour crude in Singapore. Weaker middle distillate cracks drove much of last month's decline in profitability.
Source: International Energy Agency (IEA)
How Rising Geopolitical Risks Weigh on Asset Prices
April 14, 2025--Heightened tensions can hurt stock markets, raise government borrowing costs, and pose risks to financial stability
Global geopolitical risks remain elevated, raising concerns about their potential impact on economic and financial stability.
Shocks such as wars, diplomatic tensions, or terrorism can disrupt cross-border trade and investment. This can hurt asset prices, affect financial institutions, and curtail lending to the private sector, weighing on economic activity and posing a threat to financial stability.
Such risks are challenging for investors to price due to their unique nature, rare occurrence, and uncertain duration and scope. This can lead to sharp market reactions when geopolitical shocks materialize.
Source: IMF
