A Wealth Incorporation Publication CHRIST UNIVERSITY ...

IMF and Pakistan agree to a $5.3-bn bailoutThe International Monetary Fund and Pakistan reached a provisional agreement on 4t July’13 on a $5.3-billionbailout package that aims to bolster Pakistan's flagging economy and its perilously low foreign exchange reserves.The rescue package is expected to soothe Western fears about the state of Pakistan's economy, which has slumpedin recent years amid unrelenting Taliban violence and deeply rooted corruption that have shaken investorconfidence. The IMF package also would provide a tangible lift for the newly elected Prime Minister, NawazSharif, who has already become bogged down by a seemingly intractable energy crisis.Rates to stay at record low for extended period: ECBThe European Central Bank will keep interest rates at record lows for an extended period and could yet cut themfurther, the bank's chief, Mario Draghi, said on 4th July'13.Less than two hours after the Bank of England gave a steer about future interest rate moves at Mark Carney's debutpolicy meeting as governor, the ECB president adopted the same tactic. The ECB left its main refinancing rate at0.5per cent and the deposit rate at zero, as was expected by economists in a Reuterspoll.US jobs data upbeat, trade deficit widensPrivate employers in the US stepped up hiring in June and new applications forunemployment benefits fell for a second straight week last week, pointing toimproving labour market conditions.Private payrolls increased by 1,88,000 last month, the ADP National EmploymentReport showed on 4 th July’13 compared to 134,000 jobs added in May. Economistshad expected a gain of 160,000 jobs.China services sector expands, but fails to soothe growth worriesChina's services sector expanded modestly in June with the vast construction industryacting as a drag on output, in a further sign that the world's second-largest economy islosing its momentum. A lacklustre services sector will not help buffer a deeper slowdownin manufacturing at a time when China's top leaders appear reluctant to loosenthe policy reins to shore up growth. The headline services PMI published by theNational Bureau of Statistics slipped to a 9-month low of 53.9 in June from May's54.3, and the reading from a Markit/HSBC survey improved a touch to 51.3 from51.2 in May.Fed pledges to get tough on Wall Street as adopts Basel rulesThe U.S. Federal Reserve pledged to draft tough rules for Wall Street while shieldingsmaller banks from some of the harshest impact of the global Basel III capital rules itadopted on 2 nd July’13.The central bank voted in favour of the long-awaited U.S.version of the global rules that require banks to use more equity capital to fund theirbusiness, to make them more robust after the 2007-09 credit meltdown. It providedsome flexibility to benefit the housing recovery and smaller banks in its final rule, butsaid it would write four new rules in the coming months to address concerns aboutthe risk the eight largest U.S. banks pose to the financial system.Private Banks Leave Switzerland as End of Secrecy Hurts profitFor European lenders with private-banking aspirations, a presence in Switzerlandused to be a must. Now, with bank secrecy eroding and rising compliance costschipping away at profits, more are saying adieu. The number of foreign-owned Swissbanks fell to 129 by the end of May from 145 at the start of 2012, according to datafrom the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland. Assets under management slidby a quarter to 870.7 billion Swiss francs ($921 billion) in the five years through2012 as clients withdrew money or paid taxes on undeclared accounts, the data show.6