NEW YORK — Banking conglomerate Citigroup said its second quarter profits rose by 7 percent from a year ago, helped by higher interest rates, a lower tax rate and a strong economy.

Citigroup is the first of the big Wall Street banks to report results this week. All the major banks are expected to report higher profit from a year ago, but investors are expected to focus on each of the bank’s outlook, especially with the global economy slowing down and the Federal Reserve considering lowering interest rates.

Citi said Monday it earned a profit of $4.8 billion, or $1.95 a share. That’s up from $4.49 billion, or $1.63 per share, in the same period a year earlier. That’s better than the $1.81 per share that analysts were forecasting for the bank, according to FactSet.