[Goldman Sachs: Rising interest rates will be the first to hit floating-rate borrowers, and credit improvement in leveraged financing may come to a halt] On September 23, Goldman Sachs stated that rising global bond yields and recent central bank interest rate hikes are putting more direct pressure on floating-rate borrowers in the leveraged financing market, because their financing costs will rise rapidly with the benchmark interest rate, while fixed-rate borrowers mainly face rising costs when old debts mature and are refinanced. The bank predicts that the improvement in the credit indicators of leveraged borrowers in the past few quarters may have stalled, with more obvious pressures on refinancing of mature loans in the software industry, as well as in areas that rely on financing to drive consumption such as real estate, automobiles and home improvement. However, Goldman Sachs believes that while economic growth remains solid and interest rate hikes are relatively controllable, the market can still absorb these pressures, and the impact is more likely to be concentrated on borrowers and industries that are more sensitive to interest rates, rather than triggering widespread credit deterioration. Higher benchmark interest rates may also increase investor demand for floating-rate credit, including private credit direct loans and syndicated loans, but Goldman Sachs believes this still requires macroeconomic environment and relative valuations.