Tokyo / Bloomberg Japan’s government will escape a piece of bad news until after a summer election. The $1.3 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund will on July 29 announce what may be its worst annual loss since the global financial crisis — about three weeks later than usual and after an upper house poll that must be held before July …

Manila / Bloomberg The Philippines will turn to the country’s gaming industry to recover a part of the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank channeled through local casinos and gambled by a network of at least 19 people. The Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council will ask the courts to direct casinos and junket operators to recover and return as …

Islamabad / DPA The International Monetary Fund expects Pakistan to curtail its overall development budget by 360 billion rupees (US$3.43 billion) (almost 24%) of allocations to limit the fiscal deficit. According to documents released over the weekend after approval of Pakistan’s 10th quarterly review by its executive board, the IMF expected the government to limit its overall development programme to …