JPMorgan Boss Speaks Frankly on Threat of Global Bond Crisis

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has warned of the potential for “some sort of bond crisis” in the future as global government debt risks increase. He urged policymakers to act immediately before market pressures force more drastic interventions.

The statement was made by Dimon at an investment conference hosted by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. When asked about his concerns over the surge in government debt in various countries, he issued a stark warning.

“With the current situation, there will be some sort of bond crisis, and then we will have to deal with it,” Dimon said, as quoted by CNBC International, Wednesday (29/4/2026).

Nevertheless, Dimon admitted he is not overly concerned about the financial system’s ability to respond to such a crisis. However, he stressed the importance of taking anticipatory steps early on.

“I’m not too worried that we won’t be able to handle it. I just think that maturity should show that we need to handle it, rather than letting it happen,” he added.

Dimon explained that the combination of various current global risks is becoming increasingly complex and could trigger unexpected turmoil. He highlighted several factors such as geopolitical tensions, oil prices, and continuously widening government budget deficits.

“The level of factors adding to the risk is very high, such as geopolitics, oil, government deficits,” he explained. “Those factors might disappear, but they might not, and we don’t know what combination of events will cause this problem.”

In a bond crisis scenario, markets typically experience a sharp spike in yields and a decline in liquidity. This occurs when investors rush to sell bonds while buyers withdraw, forcing central banks to intervene as the buyer of last resort to stabilise the market.

Dimon cited the 2022 UK government bond crisis as a real example. At that time, the yield surge triggered market turmoil, leading the Bank of England to carry out emergency intervention.

In addition, Dimon also touched on risks in the credit sector. Although he assessed that the private credit market, valued at around US$1.7 trillion or equivalent to Rp28,900 trillion, is not yet large enough to pose a systemic threat to the US economy, he warned of broader potential pressures.

“We haven’t had a credit recession for a long time, so when we do, it will be worse than people think,” he said. “It might be terrible.”