Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan’s aging, shrinking population was not a burden, but an incentive to boost productivity through innovations like robots, wireless sensors and Artificial Intelligence. Abe’s comments on Wednesday came days after official data showed that Japan has 34.6 million people aged 65 and older, or 27.3 percent of the population – the highest proportion among advanced nations. Source Reuters
Spain’s public debt ended 2020 at 117.1% of gross domestic product as the coronavirus pandemic and the measures imposed to curb it lifted borrowing and led to a deep economic contraction, the Bank of Spain said on Wednesday. Source Reuters
- Spain’s Abengoa (OTCPK:ABGOF, OTCPK:ABGOY) says it filed a request for bankruptcy before the court in Seville, becoming the country’s biggest company to go bust.
- The renewable energy company had €7.9B ($9.6B) in liabilities as of March 31, of which €3.9B were net corporate debt, according to its latest earnings statement.
- Abengoa’s restructuring deal with creditors fell apart after it failed to secure €20M from Andalusia’s regional government. Source Seeking Alpha
Global debt rose to a new record high of $281.5 trillion in 2020, driven by measures to curb economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF), a global trade group of financial institutions. Source AA
