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German finance ministry steps up 2024 budget pressure on ministries

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German finance ministry steps up 2024 budget pressure on ministries

BERLIN, June 2 (Reuters) – Germany’s Finance Ministry has informed the other ministries of what budget funds will be available to them next year, it said on Friday, stepping up the pressure in what has been one of the most difficult government budget negotiations in years.

Budget talks have dragged on as the government’s three parties – Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s Free Democrats, the Social Democrats and the Greens – have widely differing views on how to close a 20 billion euro ($22.02 billion) deficit.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck agreed the budget procedure in advance, said the ministry.

The ministries must now determine how to structure their funds under the given ceiling, it added.

The Handelsblatt business daily reported on Wednesday that the finance ministry expects savings from the ministries to be in the high single-digit billions.

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Last month, Lindner scrapped a planned June 21 deadline to vote on the budget, saying it was no longer feasible.

Lindner and Scholz both expect the draft budget to now be finalized before the parliament goes into summer recess, according to a ministry source.

The budget needs to be consolidated significantly after massive increases in spending during the coronavirus pandemic and due to higher energy costs as a result of the Ukraine war.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

Reporting by Rene Wagner
Writing by Miranda Murray
Editing by Friederike Heine

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Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Savings interest rates today, December 28, 2024 (best account provides 4.30% APY)

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Savings interest rates today, December 28, 2024 (best account provides 4.30% APY)

The Federal Reserve cut its target rate three times in late 2024, which means savings interest rates are falling. So it’s important to be sure you’re getting the best rate possible when shopping around for a savings account. The following is a breakdown of savings interest rates today and where to find the best offers.

The national average savings account rate stands at 0.42%, according to the FDIC. This might not seem like much, but consider that three years ago, it was just 0.06%.

Although the national average savings interest rate is fairly low compared to other types of accounts (such as CDs) and investments, the best savings rates on the market today are much higher. In fact, some of the top accounts are currently offering 4% APY and higher.

Today, the highest savings account rate available from our partners today is 4.30% APY. This rate is offered by BMO Alto and there is no minimum opening deposit required.

Here is a look at some of the best savings rates available today from our verified partners:

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Related: 10 best high-yield savings accounts today>>

The amount of interest you can earn from a savings account depends on the annual percentage rate (APY). This is a measure of your total earnings after one year when considering the base interest rate and how often interest compounds (savings account interest typically compounds daily).

Say you put $1,000 in a savings account at the average interest rate of 0.42% with daily compounding. At the end of one year, your balance would grow to $1,004.21 — your initial $1,000 deposit, plus just $4.21 in interest.

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Now let’s say you choose a high-yield savings account that offers 4% APY instead. In this case, your balance would grow to $1,040.81 over the same period, which includes $40.81 in interest.

The more you deposit in a savings account, the more you stand to earn. If we took our same example of a high-yield savings account at 4% APY, but deposit $10,000, your total balance after one year would be $10,408.08, meaning you’d earn $408.08 in interest. ​​

Read more: What is a good savings account rate?

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Canadian foreign, finance ministers meet Trump's team on tariffs

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Canadian foreign, finance ministers meet Trump's team on tariffs

Senior members of Canada’s cabinet held talks Friday with US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees to lead the departments of commerce and the interior, as Ottawa works to hold off the threat of punishing tariffs.

Canada’s newly-appointed Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met with Howard Lutnick, Trump’s commerce secretary nominee, who will also lead the country’s tariff and trade agenda.

Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum was also at the meeting held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Leblanc’s spokesman Jean-Sebastien Comeau, who confirmed the participants, described the talks as “positive and productive.”

Trump has vowed to impose crippling 25-percent tariffs on all Canadian imports when he takes office next month.

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He has said they will remain in place until Canada addresses the flow of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl into the United States.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised retaliatory measures should Trump follow through on his pledge, raising fears of a trade war.

Leblanc and Joly “outlined the measures in Canada’s Border Plan and reiterated the shared commitment to strengthen border security as well as combat the harm caused by fentanyl to save Canadian and American lives,” Comeau said in a statement.

Canada’s Border Plan — estimated to cost CAN$1 billion ($694 million) — was crafted as part of Ottawa’s response to Trump’s concerns.

Lutnick and Burgum “agreed to relay information to President Trump,” the statement said.

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Trudeau is facing his worst political crisis since sweeping into office in 2015.

Leblanc was named finance minister earlier this month after the surprise resignation of Chrystia Freeland.

In a scathing resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of prioritizing handouts to voters instead of preparing Canada’s finances for a possible trade war.

More than 75 percent of Canadian exports go to the United States and nearly two million Canadian jobs depend on trade.

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The Future of Decentralized and Traditional Finance Integration

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The Future of Decentralized and Traditional Finance Integration


The future of finance, especially global finance, is not on the horizon — it’s happening now. Countries and Institutions that embrace interoperability, real-time compliance, and quantum-resilient security are positioning themselves as leaders of this transformation.

The financial system is in the midst of a monumental shift. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are gaining momentum as governments and regulators aim to modernize monetary systems, while Decentralized Finance (DeFi) continues to challenge conventional financial services with speed, transparency, and decentralization. However, despite their potential, these two forces — along with traditional financial systems — remain disjointed. This fragmentation results in inefficiencies, rising costs, and settlement delays, hindering global financial connectivity. Bridging these worlds is no longer optional — it’s essential to create a faster, more secure, and more inclusive financial future.

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The Problems Holding Finance Back

For decades, the global financial system has relied on legacy infrastructure and fragmented regulatory and banking industry frameworks. While it has supported cross-border payments and international trade, it has done so at an exorbitant cost in terms of both time and money. The involvement of global politics has added an additional level as well to an already complex system. The emergence of blockchain-based DeFi platforms introduced new possibilities but failed to solve the underlying issues of scalability and compliance. Meanwhile, CBDCs add a new layer of complexity as central banks look to maintain control while modernizing payments.

The key obstacles are clear:

These challenges are not theoretical. They’re real-world problems faced by financial institutions, payment providers, and central banks trying to create more efficient, resilient systems.

See also: Transforming the Financial Sector: The Impact of Automation in Banking

Interoperability: The Bedrock of the Next Financial System

True interoperability is not a feature — it’s a requirement. For traditional finance, DeFi, and CBDCs to coexist, they must be able to communicate and transfer value across one another. Without this capability, cross-border payments will remain slow, and multi-system operations will continue to require expensive manual reconciliation. Interoperability enables payments to flow seamlessly between bank networks, DeFi protocols, and CBDC platforms, cutting out intermediaries and automating settlement.

What true interoperability requires:

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  • Multi-Ledger Transaction Support: Payments must move across different financial ledgers — from commercial banks to DeFi protocols to central bank digital currency networks — without reconciliation bottlenecks.
  • Real-Time, Multi-Currency Settlement: Payments involving fiat, cryptocurrencies, and CBDCs must be processed and settled in real time, enabling frictionless commerce at scale.
  • The governance, regulatory, privacy, and Nation-State requirements need to be automated in the new Platform.
  • Universal Payment Flows: Payment solutions must enable a single payment to cross multiple networks — legacy, private, blockchain, and government-issued systems — without requiring separate processing channels.

The results are undeniable: greater efficiency, lower settlement costs, and a path to instant cross-border payments. This shift eliminates the need for batch processing and multi-step settlement chains, replacing them with real-time payment routing and automated multi-ledger transfers.

Compliance Can’t Be Bolted On – It Must Be Embedded

Cross-border payments are subject to varying regulatory requirements, which are enforced by regional authorities. Ensuring compliance with KYC, AML, and sanctions screening has traditionally been a manual, labor-intensive process, leading to costly delays. But the future of compliance is no longer manual — it’s embedded. By embedding compliance checks directly into payment flows, financial institutions can meet regulatory requirements in real time, reducing risk, eliminating delays, and supporting faster payments.

Key elements of embedded compliance:

  • On-Demand KYC/AML Screening: Compliance screening occurs automatically, with KYC/AML checks happening as the payment is processed, not after.
  • Dynamic Rule Adjustment: When payments cross borders, the system recognizes which jurisdictions are involved and applies the proper compliance rules in real time.
  • Automated Risk Scoring: Transactions are evaluated for risk on the fly, with high-risk payments flagged for review while low-risk payments flow uninterrupted.
  • Immutable Audit Trails: Every payment is accompanied by an immutable, tamper-proof record that supports regulatory audits and provides transparency.

By automating and embedding compliance into the payment process itself, financial institutions lower operational costs, reduce exposure to regulatory risk, and accelerate payment settlement. This approach moves compliance from being a roadblock to being an enabler.

Securing Payments for the Quantum Era

As quantum computing advances, the cryptographic protections that underpin today’s financial system are at risk. Many existing encryption methods, like RSA and ECC, could be cracked by a quantum computer. While quantum computing may seem distant, its implications for financial security are real. The financial sector must act now to prepare for a post-quantum world.

Key security measures to counter quantum threats:

The transition to quantum-resistant encryption isn’t speculative. Financial leaders know that, when quantum computing matures, it will disrupt financial security as we know it. Early adoption of quantum-safe protocols future-proofs payment infrastructure, ensuring financial stability in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.

Distributed Edge Processing: Faster Payments with Local Control

For decades, payment processing has relied on centralized data centers that route transactions through a central hub. While effective, this model introduces latency, network congestion, and single points of failure. The future of payment processing is at the edge.

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Edge processing pushes payment activity to the “edge” of the network — closer to where the payment originates — reducing travel time and allowing payments to be processed locally. Instead of relying on a central server, mini-processing nodes handle payments on-site, enabling near-instant settlements.

How edge processing changes the game:

This shift in processing models enables faster cross-border payments and lays the groundwork for true real-time settlement. Localized processing nodes create resilience, reduce downtime, and remove bottlenecks in global payment flows.

Sustainability and Financial Inclusion as Critical Imperatives

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors are playing a larger role in financial infrastructure design. From environmental sustainability to financial inclusion, future-ready payment infrastructure must meet new societal expectations. This shift is not just ethical; it’s strategic. Institutions are under pressure from regulators, investors, and customers to create more equitable, transparent, and sustainable financial systems.

ESG-driven imperatives shaping financial infrastructure:

  • Environmental Impact: Centralized data centers consume enormous amounts of energy. By adopting distributed processing, institutions reduce energy use and carbon emissions.
  • Financial Inclusion: Millions of people remain unbanked. Financial inclusion solutions enable low-cost cross-border payments, giving underserved communities access to global finance.
  • Transparency and Accountability: Blockchain-based payment records create immutable, tamper-proof audit trails, ensuring visibility into every transaction.

The Call to Lead the Financial Future

The future of finance, especially global finance, is not on the horizon — it’s happening now. Countries and Institutions that embrace interoperability, real-time compliance, and quantum-resilient security are positioning themselves as leaders of this transformation. Delays are no longer an option. The financial world will reward those who act with speed, precision, and foresight. The question is not if change will come — it’s whether you’ll be ready to lead it.

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