LONDON:

Global debt hit a record high of $337.7 trillion at the end of the second quarter, driven by easing global financial conditions, a softer US dollar and a more accommodative stance from major central banks, a quarterly report showed on Thursday.

The Institute of International Finance (IIF), a financial services trade group, said that global debt rose over $21 trillion in the first half of the year to $337.7 trillion. Total debt in emerging markets rose by $3.4 trillion in the second quarter to a record high of more than $109 trillion.

China, France, the United States, Germany, Britain, and Japan recorded the largest increases in debt levels in dollar terms, though some of that was due to a waning greenback, it said. The dollar has weakened 9.75% since the start of the year agains

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