Government Borrowing

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—In the midst of a deepening economic crisis, Pakistan will get a new finance minister after the incumbent lost support from his political party for agreeing to austerity measures in an effort to win a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.Pakistan is seeking to climb out of a balance-of-payments crisis that has seen foreign currency reserves fall to perilous levels. Making things worse, massive flooding this summer caused billions of dollars of damage to the economy.…

Shorter-term Treasury yields ticked higher while longer-term yields fell Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled interest rates will likely climb more this year than many investors had expected.Treasury yields initially rose, then broadly fell as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a postmeeting press conference in which he emphasized the central bank’s commitment to bringing down inflation, while acknowledging the uncertain economic outlook. The overall message from the Fed caused…

European governments are increasing spending to shield households from surging energy prices driven by Russia’s economic war, but that comes amid rising borrowing costs and mounting investor unease about swelling sovereign debt in some countries.To date, the European Union’s five largest economies have announced support for households, and less costly help for businesses, totaling €203 billion, around $201 billion. The measures might keep millions of people from sliding into poverty—and thousands of businesses from going…

President Biden delivered remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House during his first in-person appearance since contracting Covid-19. Photo: michael reynolds/Shutterstock…

Ukraine’s NJSC Naftogaz was hours away from default after lenders rejected its request to delay payments on more than $1.4 billion of foreign-currency bonds. In the wake of the vote, the state energy company was seeking approval from the Ukrainian government to repay one of the bonds, a $335 million note that matured last week. A company spokeswoman said Kyiv had yet to respond. Naftogaz has less than a day to make good on the debt because the bond’s five-business-day grace period…

BERLIN—Uniper SEone of Europe’s largest utilities, is in bailout talks with the German government, saying earnings would be hit hard by dwindling natural-gas supplies from Russia.Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom PJSC reduced deliveries to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline to 40% of its capacity earlier this month. Uniper, by extension, said it has been receiving only 40% of its contractually committed gas volumes from Gazprom since mid-June. Uniper, which relies on those deliveries to meet demand from its commercial…

Congress struck a deal in December to raise the government’s debt limit to roughly $31.4 trillion. Photo: Patrick Semansky/Associated Press…

WASHINGTON—The Treasury Department moved to cut off Russia’s ability to make payments on its dollar-denominated sovereign debt, putting Russia on a path toward defaulting on its foreign debts this summer and deepening the country’s economic isolation after its invasion of Ukraine.Since imposing a raft of sanctions on Russia this year, the U.S. had maintained an exemption allowing U.S. banks and investors to process and receive payments on existing Russian bonds. The Treasury said Tuesday it would allow the exemption to…

BONN, Germany—Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. would likely prevent U.S. investors from receiving payments on Russian debt, a decision that could push Russia toward default.Currently, the U.S. has carved out an exemption, set to expire on May 25, in its sanctions campaign against Russia to allow for sovereign debt payments. Without it in place, banks and investors won’t be able to process and receive bond payments made by the Kremlin, likely prompting Russia’s first default on…

WASHINGTON—Federal revenue almost doubled in April compared with a year earlier, reaching a record and driving a monthly government surplus of $308 billion, which Treasury officials said also set a record for the largest monthly surplus. Government revenue from taxes and other receipts for the month rose by 97% from a year earlier to $864 billion, not adjusting for calendar differences, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday. Federal outlays in April fell by 16% to $555 billion, the…