The global trade finance gap jumped to a record $2.5 trillion last year, as heightened economic risks left banks’ financing capacity stretched, according to the Asian Development Bank. The trade finance gap — the difference between requests and approvals for financing to support imports and exports — grew by 47% from $1.
The report comes amid global trade continuing to disappoint despite nearing its peak season ahead of the year-end holidays. Shipping companies like A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and CMA CGM SA are cautious at best: while a US recession may not be in the cards anymore, they expect volumes to be depressed for the rest of 2023. Survey respondents said they faced continued constraints in 2022, with 60% of the banks reporting that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacted their trade finance portfolios.