Pakistan GDP growth will slow to 5% for the upcoming fiscal year beginning on July 1, from 5.9% in the outgoing year, following budgetary tightening aimed at winning International Monetary Fund (IMF) support, the government said on Saturday.

The country is facing the biggest macroeconomic challenge in the last one decade, said Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem).

The World Bank has agreed to provide Sri Lanka with $600 million in financial assistance to help meet payment requirements for essential imports, the Sri Lankan president's media division said in a statement on Tuesday.

Resolutely addressing the high level of non-performing loans in the banking sector in Bangladesh is essential to address financial stability risks and associated fiscal risks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appointed Gita Gopinath as Economic Counsellor and Director of the IMF’s Research Department, according to a press release.

From Xi’s China to Duterte’s Philippines, Asian economies have risen as the world’s best countries in terms of GDP.

The IMF has identified risk factors in Bangladesh economy, including political unrest related to national elections, the Rohingya situation and further deepening of crises in the state owned banks.

Bangladesh will need to boost productive investment by addressing infrastructure bottlenecks and strengthening the banking sector to keep ongoing momentum unhurt, the IMF said in its annual assessment of the economy.

The International Monetary Fund warns that US import tariffs on steel and aluminum would likely cause economic damage to the United States and its trading partners, and urges countries to resolve trade disputes without resorting to retaliatory measures.

An International Monetary Fund delegation visits Myanmar this week for an annual economic checkup of a country whose treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority has put it in the international spotlight.

The government has backtracked on its move to implement the new VAT law from the start of the new fiscal year in the face of resistance from businesses, a section of revenue officials and inadequate preparation by the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attends the Outreach Meeting of the G7 countries, representing world's seven major advanced economies.

The International Monetary Fund says the global economy faces wide-ranging threats from weak growth and rising protectionism, warning of possible "severe" damage should Britain quit the European Union.

Bangladesh is going to be the part of a joint initiative to establish a regional body in South Asia to enhance skills and capacity development of public sector officials and bankers.

The International Monetary Fund downgrades its forecast for global economic growth, expecting economic activity to increase 3.4% this year followed by 3.6% in 2017.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde is to stand trial in France for alleged negligence over a €400m (£291m; $434m) payment to a businessman in 2008, local media say.

Pressure from the IMF suggests that, with time China will indeed move towards a more open capital market. But that creates other challenges for Asia's largest economy.