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By Greta Rosen Fondahn and Helen Reid STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) -IKEA's annual sales fell for a second consecutive year, it reported on Thursday, as the budget furniture retailer stuck to a strategy of cutting prices to attract cash-strapped consumers and gain market share in a fiercely competitive market. Having hiked prices during the pandemic due to supply chain disruptions, the world's biggest furniture retailer has cut prices by 10% on average over the past two years as high inflation and weak housing markets worldwide dented consumers' demand for furniture and homeware.  Global IKEA retail sales in the 2025 financial year – which ended on August 31 – fell 1%, or 0.3% adjusted for currency effects, to 44.6 billion euros ($51.9 billion). The total number of products sold, however, was up 3%, with customer numbers and store visits also up. "One of the reasons we could take that decision was the fact that we are not on the stock exchange – we can be very long term together with our franchisees and decide that it's most important right now to have better prices," Jon Abrahamsson Ring, CEO of IKEA franchisor Inter IKEA, told Reuters.  "We do that because we see that people in all our 63 markets, their wallets are thinner right now and we see that consumer confidence for many years has gone down." In the U.S., however, IKEA has raised prices on some products due to higher tariffs on imports, though Abrahamsson Ring said IKEA is trying to absorb the extra cost. IKEA competes in the U.S. with Wayfair and Walmart, but more of its furniture is made in factories in Europe, giving it a slight advantage over retailers relying on imports from China which face a higher tariff rate.  "The agreement that today exists between the European Union and the U.S. … that at least gives us good predictability and we want that to stay consistent," said Abrahamsson Ring.   BIGGEST IKEA RETAILER 'CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC' Ingka Group, the biggest IKEA franchisee, which owns stores in 31 markets, also reported on Thursday its lowest annual sales since 2021, down 1.6% at 39 billion euros due to price cuts, but said quantities sold were up 1.6%. Ingka CEO Jesper Brodin told Reuters he was cautiously optimistic about consumer spending picking up again. "The impact of falling inflation and falling interest rates … it usually takes a while before people open their wallets. We are starting to see the tendencies towards that," he said, adding that uncertainty over trade and conflict around the world made it difficult to predict.   ($1 = 0.8596 euros) (Reporting by Greta Rosen Fondahn in Stockholm and Helen Reid in London; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Aurora Ellis)

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By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Group of 20 major economies, led this year by South Africa, said on Thursday the risk of a systemic debt crisis appears to be broadly contained, but many vulnerable low- and middle-income countries still faced high financing costs and other challenges limiting their ability to boost growth. G20 finance officials issued a declaration on debt during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, calling for further work to boost debt sustainability, increase transparency and give borrowing countries more of a voice in the process. The leaders pledged to continue strengthening the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments in a "predictable, timely, orderly and coordinated manner," noting that several borrowing countries required "further international assistance." That line came amid indications from senior IMF and World Bank officials that the emphasis was now on countries "growing their way out of debt" instead of holding out for debt relief. The G20 declaration, its first separate communique on debt since the COVID-19 pandemic, was highly anticipated, amid huge cuts to development aid by the United States, which will take over the G20 presidency next year, and other rich countries. But some debt relief activists said it fell short. "Today’s G20 Ministerial Declaration on Debt Sustainability, led by the South African Presidency, is inadequate and unambitious – falling far short of what is needed to tackle the worst debt crisis the world has ever seen," said Iolanda Fresnillo with the European Network on Debt and Development. She said the statement included no new initiatives and revealed the shortcomings of the G20 for addressing real crises. Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, said unsustainable debt remained a G20 priority, noting that developing countries spent $921 billion on interest payments alone – not principal – in 2024, a 10% jump from 2023, with more increases expected this year. "We see a consensus around the severity of debt payment challenges, but not yet a consensus on how to solve the debt challenges," he said. "Countries cannot borrow their way out of this crisis." Duncan Pieterse, director-general of South Africa's National Treasury, said G20 officials agreed to further strengthen the voice of borrowing countries in debt discussions, a key demand made by South Africa during its leadership of the G20 this year. He said officials were heartened by progress made on Common Framework restructuring cases, including faster resolution than in early cases like Chad, but more work was needed. "Certainly there has been progress. It remains on the agenda of the G20 and it remains a discussion for further refinement, including how preferential creditor status is handled," he said. Top U.S. and Chinese officials joined a meeting on Wednesday of the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable at the IMF-World Bank meetings, where participants underscored the continued commitment of the world's two largest economies to keep addressing persistent debt issues facing developing countries. Global debt is at record levels, but many emerging markets have actually reduced their debt-to-GDP ratios, although they still face crushing debt service payments and have been crowded out of capital markets by advanced economies. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Paul Simao and Andrea Ricci)

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By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. budget deficit shrank by $41 billion to $1.775 trillion in the 2025 fiscal year, despite a $118 billion increase in revenues from President Donald Trump's tariffs, the Treasury Department reported on Thursday. The results for the year ended September 30, which include nearly nine months of Trump's second term in the White House, compared to a $1.817 trillion deficit in fiscal 2024. It was the first time the annual deficit had fallen since 2022, when the unwinding of COVID-19 relief programs brought spending down. The smaller deficit was aided by a record $195 billion in net customs receipts for the fiscal year, an increase of $118 billion from the prior year as new Trump tariffs rolled in. Customs receipts in September reached a new record high of $29.7 billion, but the pace of increase slowed from August, when $29.5 billion was collected. Total receipts for fiscal 2025 were a record $5.235 trillion, up $317 billion, or 6%, from the $4.918 trillion in fiscal 2024. Fiscal 2025 outlays also were a record at $7.01 trillion, up $275 billion, or 4%, from the $6.735 trillion in the prior fiscal year. TREASURY REPORTS RECORD SURPLUS FOR MONTH OF SEPTEMBER A U.S. Treasury official said the department calculated an estimated deficit-to-GDP ratio of 5.9% for fiscal 2025, but declined to say what GDP estimate was used. This figure compares to an actual 6.3% deficit-to-GDP ratio for fiscal 2024. For the 2025 fiscal year's final month of September, the Treasury reported a record surplus of $198 billion, up $118 billion, or 147%, from the same month in the prior year. September is often a month of surplus due to quarterly tax filing deadlines for companies and individuals. Receipts last month were up $17 billion, or 3%, to $544 billion, while outlays were down $101 billion, or 23%, to $346 billion. The latest monthly surplus was boosted by a $131 billion cut to the Department of Education budget that was mandated in the spending and tax-cut bill passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in July. For September, the education outlays were $123 billion lower than in September 2024. For the full 2025 fiscal year, the Department of Education suffered the biggest cut in outlays, down $233 billion, or 87% from the prior year to just $35 billion. That cut and the higher customs receipts masked continued increases in outlays for the Social Security retirement plan, the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs and interest on the U.S. federal debt. The interest expenditure reached a record $1.216 trillion for the full fiscal year, up $83 billion, or 7%, from fiscal 2024, making it the second-largest expenditure item after Social Security. Expenses for that program reached $1.647 trillion, up $127 billion, or 8%, from the prior fiscal year. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao)

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By Rajesh Kumar Singh CHICAGO (Reuters) -United Airlines Scott Kirby warned on Thursday that an extended government shutdown risks taking a toll on airline bookings as well as flight operations. The shutdown has entered its third week due to a political stalemate over government funding, amplifying a long-standing shortage of air traffic controllers. It has slowed air traffic at times in some cities. More than 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers received a partial paycheck in recent days and will not get paid later this month if the standoff is not resolved. Kirby said there has not been a measurable impact from the shutdown as a vast majority of air-traffic controllers are still showing up to work. A greater communication and coordination from the Federal Aviation Administration is also helping airlines, he added. But as the shutdown drags on, Kirby said people would start losing confidence in the government's ability to resolve the standoff, impacting travel bookings. "I hope our politicians will figure out how to get in a room, compromise, and get something done," he told analysts on an earnings call. United's shares were down about 6% in afternoon trade as concerns about the shutdown as well as its pricing power overshadowed its upbeat earnings outlook. CAPACITY ADJUSTMENT PLANS The Chicago-based airline has forecast a stronger-than-expected profit in the fourth quarter as it expects rising travel demand and improved pricing power to produce the highest quarterly revenue in the company's history. Its third-quarter revenue, however, fell short of Wall Street estimates due to operational issues at Newark airport as well as weaker unit revenue, a proxy for pricing power, in both domestic and international markets. The airline's unit revenue declined 3.3% year-on-year in the domestic market in the third quarter and dropped 7.1% on international routes. Conor Cunningham, an analyst with Melius Research, said United's mid to high-single digit capacity addition in all regions during the quarter hurt its unit revenue. United plans to fix its capacity problem. Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella said the company will adjust its summer capacity next year, including reducing seats for the July Fourth holiday period. It also expects to keep its transatlantic capacity flat to negative in the third-quarter of 2026. "We … remain focused on refinements we can make to the network and commercial strategies to build a stronger margin," Nocella told analysts. (Reporting by Rajesh Kumar SinghEditing by Nick Zieminski)

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