04/04/2016 Asia Business Report

Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore

Asia looks at US jobs figures for pointers on when to expect the Nexus

rate hike. And we're taking a dive into Mumbai's Sewers with those

getting their hands dirty cleaning, often risking their lives.

Hello and welcome to this Monday edition of Asia Business Report.

Asian markets have opened flat at the start of this new trading week

after the latest US jobs figures. This is how they're faring if we

take a look at Wall Street, edging higher at the close on Friday. The

boost coming after these better than expected employment factory data

numbers from the US, the non-farm payroll increasing 250000 and the

unemployment rate rising from an eight year low to 5%. But despite

the muted response in Asia it seen as a sign of confidence in the job

market because more people have continued to look for work. I am

joined by David Crow in Singapore. As we mentioned, a fairly muted

response in Asia to these jobs numbers, but obviously they are very

optimistic numbers, why aren't Asian investors rejoicing? It takes a

while for the market to digests all of this. You're right, it's a bit

muted but muted is better than despondent. Each particular market

has its own problems. As far as Japan is concerned, but survey they

did is weighing down on sentiment in Japan. -- that. It will take a while

before the Japanese companies start to grow in confidence. Elsewhere,

Australia has problems with its banking industry. Whether or not

some of the commodity countries will have to write off more bad debts,

the banks that is, for these commodity companies. As the rest of

Asia wakes up, especially in Singapore, things will pick up a

little. Hopefully. These new numbers from the US suggest perhaps there's

a stronger for an interest rate hike over in the US, could they hasten

their pace perhaps and speed up the rate of hikes? I doubt it because as

far as the American economy is concerned, it's what we all the

Goldilocks, not too hot, not too cold, not hot enough for the Federal

reserve to think they need to increase interest rates

immediately. They may do an interest rate hike sometime this year but I

think it will be to the later end of the year. That will cheer the

markets. And the American economy isn't cold enough to make people

worried about a slowdown in the American economy. Then we have China

as well. Things are beginning to stabilise in China. There's access

of economic power between the East and West seems to be back in balance

again -- this axes. The problems of January seem to be in the distant

past. You say China is improving but generally the macro situation is far

worse, it's beginning to slow, lots of structural problems going on in

that country and you mention Japan, the survey by the Central bank

showing the biggest decline amongst a large manufacturers in terms of

sentiment in three years. Is Asia now heading off in its own

direction, has it decoupled from the US? You could say that. One of the

things that raised down on Asia and particularly Southeast Asia is the

strong US dollar -- weighs down. It's unlikely the US Fed will

increase interest rates. Maybe the US dollar won't run away as quickly

and then that will give Asian economies a bit of breathing space.

Breathing space is what China needs too. If it can stabilise the

industrial side it will give the consumer and retail side the chance

to pick up and then that rebalancing of the Chinese economy may soon

materialise. All right, it will give you a chance to get some breathing

space as well. Thanks very much. In other news, the British government

has played down the impact on the UK steel industry of nude Chinese

import tariffs of up to 46.3%. China lands to impose the levy on imports

of high-tech steel from the EU -- new. South Korea and also Japan. It

comes after Tata Steel announced it was selling its loss-making UK

plants putting thousands of jobs at risk. Now, for many the pristine

white sands and clear blue waters of the Maldives represent the picture

perfect holiday destination. But lately it's been under the spotlight

for political problems. This weekend Maldives police used peppers break

to break up a protest about freedom of speech -- peppers break. It also

included journalists, and it could affect the tourism sector which

accounts for a large part of its economy. We found out if there was

any opportunity to diversify. Yes, tourism remains the biggest job

industry in the country. Given the political instability in the

country, with the situation around the former president Nasheed, how

has that been affecting tourism numbers? Do you see the situation

resolving itself soon? We have a government willing to fix a framing

economy due to the recent global downturn -- failing economy. We need

job correction and fixing the social issues and it can only come through

economic measures. Obviously when a negative image is being portrayed

with political Peebles, being wrongly portrayed in the world, far

from being the truth. It's obvious these are things that impact the

tourism industry. Tourism is... It is very much prone to the

international shocks, be it environmental threats existing in

the world, tourism has always been such a sensitive issue and we are no

exception. You have critics accusing the Maldives government of political

repression, Newman said the uses and the overall threat in the increase

in jihadis -- human rights abuses. What steps are you going to take to

reduce this? I want to stress its not as black and white as it appears

to be. This administration seeks the expertise and we are eager to engage

with the international organisations, our partners in

the... Like the UN, for example, the Commonwealth, Europe, Asia, and the

world. The case about politics, the case of what terrorism for example,

being linked heavily to the economy, is not going to serve us well. It

has been negatively promoted as a country that promotes... That has

political instability and terrorism. But I think the case is

not as black and white as it appears to be. The

Maldives economics Minister there. To India and sewers, they run

beneath the streets and they are a central part of the infrastructure

but keeping them free from blockages isn't just hard and unpleasant, but

it can also be incredibly dangerous for the workers employed on a day to

day basis. Often without safety gear. We have more from them by. --

Mumbai. On most days of the year, this is

where you will find this man. Under the ground removing sludge so that

waste can flow freely to Mumbai sewers. Some days he has to go much

deeper with only a rope to help him. And for all this he owns less

than $5 a day. TRANSLATION: If I don't work then what would we eat?

With the 5000 rupees I earn, we have to survive for at least a month so I

have to steel myself and do the job. And the work can be dangerous.

Unions claimed dozens die every year because they are not given any

safety gear -- claim. The dangers of the job became a horrible reality

for this family. This woman's husband had died while working in

the sewers two years ago. She shows me his post-mortem examination

report where a government doctor confirms the cause of death as

drowning. TRANSLATION: We used to run our home with his earnings and

mine put together. After his death my son had to leave college and go

to work instead. His education has been left incomplete.

Mumbai's municipal Corporation directly employs about 30,000 people

to keep the city clean. But the more difficult and unpleasant job of

cleaning the sewers is normally done by casual labourers hired on a

day-to-day basis through subcontractors, and who aren't

entitled to medical or insurance benefits. We tried to talk to

authorities in the headquarters here about what they do to ensure worker

safety and union claims about the dangers of the job, but they told us

they didn't want to talk about the issue. In this protest there are

several people who lost loved ones and are yet to receive any money.

Labour work is critical to the government's big campaign to clean

up in the. And while there will always be a hard job, it doesn't

need to be such a risky one. That's it for this edition of Asia

Business Report. I'm Sharanjit Leyl in Singapore. Thanks for watching.

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