Washington / AFP The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that it is considering new financial support for the Afghanistan government as the country’s economy continues to stumble. The IMF lauded the country’s gains under a just-concluded IMF-monitored program to close vulnerabilities with reforms in the government budget process and in the financial sector. “Despite difficult circumstances, the authorities implemented …

  KUALA LUMPUR / WAM The 4.2 per cent annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth recorded for the first quarter (1Q16) as announced by Bank Negara Malaysia exceeded the forecast of economists. It came in higher than the consensus estimate of 4.0 per cent, said Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohammed Afzanizam Abdul Rashid. He commented that the …

  Kolkata / Bloomberg UCO Bank, an Indian state-owned lender with 629 deliberate defaulters, reported the highest bad loan ratio among banks in the South Asian nation. Shares fell the most in three months. Provisions for soured debt at the Kolkata-based company more than doubled to about 23 billion rupees ($344 million) in the three months through March from a …