SAFE released its 1H 2026 balance of payments report. China’s current account transactions totaled $4.6 tln in 1H, up 16% YoY; the current account surplus was $378bn and its ratio to GDP remained stable. Goods trade grew briskly: trade in goods measured on a BoP basis rose 18% YoY, with AI and green-energy related sectors strong; goods imports rose nearly 20%, outpacing export growth by 2.3ppt. Services trade accelerated: service exports rose 21% YoY, with inbound foreign travel and faster growt

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said U.S. growth should be “close to 4%, not 3%” if there is “no interference from the outside world,” and called 4% his “baseline scenario.” He warned external shocks could prevent the Trump administration from achieving its target of sustained 3% GDP growth; private economists typically forecast nearer 2%. Hassett said recent AI investment has supported GDP, while slowing labor-force growth and a weak housing market remain headwinds. He added the administration’s goal to cut the fiscal deficit to 3% of GDP could be affected by “force majeure” factors. On rising U.S. Treasury yields, Hassett said the move partly reflects a more attractive investment backdrop and that higher financing costs have not deterred projects such as data centers — firms continue to borrow and invest, pushing rates up. On the federal debt exceeding $40 trillion, he said part is intra-governmental “debt the government owes itself,” and estimated external debt at about $15 trillion.

UK August M4 money supply +0.4% MoM; July revised -0.3%.