By Saeed Azhar
New York CEO (Reuters) -Citigroup, Jane Fraser, said on Monday that most of the bank’s sales customers could absorb American 10% tariffs on the country’s business partners, but have warned that companies are waiting for investments and hiring until there is more economic clarity.
“If it is 10%, most of the customers we are talking about:” Yes, we can absorb this “, if it’s 25%, not so much,” Fraser said at the Milken Institute World Conference in Los Angeles.
“Most companies are in a little Limbo land, … and in these investment expenses, part of this is suspended, some of the decisions on the CAPEX and hiring are pending,” she said. “It will have an impact on demand and the economy.”
Fraser said the prices may have an impact on supply and prices, depending on the rate levels.
“What we hear from customers is that they are preparing for the opposite winds,” she said, adding that some take measures such as strengthening balance sheets.
The American economy contracted for the first time in three years in the first quarter in the middle of a flood of imports to beat President Donald Trump’s prices. The International Monetary Fund provides that the US gross domestic product will only increase 1.8% in 2025.
In private credit, Fraser said that a group of investors, including Citi, has provided $ 800 million to an Apollo world back vehicle, as part of a Boeing financing agreement.
Apollo offered a private credit financing package to partially finance the acquisition of $ 10.6 billion from Thomas Bravo from the Jeppesen navigation unit in Boeing, according to reports.
Last year, Citigroup and Apollo Global joined forces for a private credit and direct loan program of 25 billion dollars, illustrating a growing alliance between banks and non-banks looking for a lucrative market of 2 billions of dollars.
(Report by Saeed Azhar; edition by Leslie Adler and Andrea Ricci)
