The world’s $13trn interest bill

By The Economist

After a calm 2010s, in which interest rates hardly budged, inflation is putting central-bank officials to work. Indeed, policymakers have rarely been busier. In the first quarter of 2021, policy rates in a sample of 58 rich and emerging economies stood at an average of 2.6%. By the final quarter of 2022, this figure had reached 7.1%. Meanwhile, total debt in these countries hit a record $300trn, or 345% of their combined gdp, up from $255trn, or 320% of gdp, before the covid-19 pandemic.