IMF say global economy healthier, but still weak

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund expressed guarded optimism about the state of the global economy on Tuesday, even as it trimmed its forecasts for output and warned about the catastrophic impact of a potential U.S. debt default.

In its latest global economic snapshot, the IMF cut its world growth forecasts for the sixth straight time in less than two years, saying a stronger performance in most advanced economies would fail to make up for a more sluggish expansion in the developing world.

Prospects for emerging markets, long the engine of the global recovery, have dimmed somewhat with both structural and cyclical factors at play, the IMF said.

IIM Shillong Golf Cup Season 6 ends on a high note

SHILLONG: The flagship event of IIM Shillong - Golf Cup Season 6 ended on a high note on the evening of Sunday, October 6th, 2013. The event was organized by IIM Shillong in association with Meghalaya Tourism. The two day event comprised of the Corporate Golf Tournament and IIM Shillong's Annual Management Fest 'Khlur-Thma' which consisted of inter college competitions in different management domains. The Chief Guest for the award ceremony was Dr Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister, Government of Meghalaya.

The Golf Cup saw participation from more than 100 golf enthusiasts, including more than 40 corporate participants from corporations like DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Yen Capitals, and Hindustan Unilever among others.

The event also hosted the presence of top government officials including A.L. Hek, Minister of IT and Health and Family Welfare, Government of Meghalaya and Ashok Thakur, Secretary of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

US debt ceiling: What we wake up to on October 18

One cannot rule out the possibility of some sort of a technical default before a compromise is reached on debt ceiling, says Alastair Newton, Senior Political Analyst, Nomura - the one who predicted a red October as early as July.

While India has a total exposure of $59.3 billion to US Treasury Securities, China and Japan have it at $1.1 trillion each as of July 2013, as per the data available on the official website of the US Department of the Treasury.

But there's no worry on this front, for now. "I don't mean a default on the US Treasuries," explains Alastair Newton, "... but that we get across the October 17 deadline and the Treasury has to start being selective about which bills to pay."

Mexico urges US to reach deal on raising debt ceiling

MEXICO CITY: Mexico's finance minister urged the United States on Tuesday to reach an agreement on raising its debt ceiling, saying a failure to do so could seriously damage financial markets and the global economy.

"(This) has the potential to enormously affect financial markets and therefore not just the United States' economy but also the economies of the rest of the world," Finance Minister Luis Videgaray told Mexican radio.

"It's an event that could be so serious that I think we all trust that the lawmakers and the executive of the United States will find the means to reach an agreement," he added.

India may have to use policy buffers wisely to tackle outflows: IMF

WASHINGTON DC: The International Monetary Fund has cautioned that emerging economies such as India will need to employ "policy buffers wisely" if they confront significant capital outflows on US Fed Reserve's tapering of monetary stimulus.
"Emerging economies need to facilitate an orderly adjustment in their financial markets. If they are faced with significant capital outflows, policy buffers may have to be used wisely," the IMF said in its Global Financial Stability Report. The report, coming ahead of the annual meeting beginning Thursday, says policymakers need to address domestic vulnerabilities by strengthening macro-financial frameworks and buffers.
Financial authorities may need to intervene to ensure the process is smooth, the report suggested. Developing countries saw a larger than normal surge in investments in debt over the past five years, said Jose Vinals, the IMF's financial counselor. These investments are beginning to go out as interest rates rise in the US and the economy recovers.

Government gears up to launch interest rate futures: Sources

MUMBAI: Government plans to launch trading of government bond futures within the next two months as part of efforts to deepen its financial markets, according to several sources involved in the discussions with the central bank.

These interest rate futures would help banks and financial firms in Asia's third-largest economy assess expectations for borrowing costs and hedge the risks of rate changes to their bond portfolios.

It would also provide the country's policymakers with a valuable gauge to measure market expectations for their future rate decisions.

Upbeat about the Indian economy, expect trade deficit to come down: Adrian Mowat, JPMorgan

In an interview with ET Now, Adrian Mowat, Chief Asian Emerging Market Equity Strategist, JPMorgan, shares his views on the US debt deal, emerging markets and some sectors. Excerpts:

Nikunj Dalmia: Finally, we have a deal in place in Washington, but do you think the debt deal means precious little for financial markets because all US lawmakers have pushed the can down the road?

Adrian Mowat: Yes, it has a limited impact on the financial markets. Today the markets are up, but they are up only modestly because most investors assumed that a deal would be done on the final hour which is pretty much what has happened and this is a degree of kicking the can. In January, we will need to readdress these issues once more.

I suppose some of the fringe elements of the Republican Party are expected to lose in this debate and maybe they are not going to use this sort of blackmail tactic again in January, but we will just have to wait and see. So for now, this is no longer a new story, but maybe it will be a new story by the end of the year.

Nikunj Dalmia: The US economy is the core to the world economy and that core is held by the US Treasury. Given the kind of political noises we have got from Washington of late, do you think the US Treasury will lose the status of being called as safe haven?

Adrian Mowat: No, I do not think so. We had the possible threat of a technical default in the US. Although that was still many weeks away and there is much the Treasury could have done to divert cash to pay coupons and bonds. When bonds mature, you could reissue because you would not be increasing the debt limits. I do not see any change in the use of US Treasuries for collateral for parking money for foreign exchange reserves.

Although there is a massive misunderstanding about what central banks do with foreign exchange reserves, they tend to be at the shorter end of the curve rather than the longer end of the curve and then if we are thinking about bonds as an investment, it is very important to remember that tapering has been postponed or we call it the tapering timeout.

Janet Yellen will be at some point reducing purchases of US Treasuries and mortgage backed securities. Mutual interest rates in the US of 4% of the short end, 5% to 6% of the long end, we are long way from those numbers at the moment, but investors need to know that is the new scenery. It is a bond bear market. These remain the reserve currency, Treasuries remain the safe assets in terms of collateral values, but I do not think being in bonds is a very smart move over the next couple of years

Nikunj Dalmia: In last two months, EMs have been all over the place. In the month of August, we saw a virtual bloodbath, more like a capitulation followed by strong recovery and now we are staring at a little bit of euphoria. What is going on?