23/11/2015 World Business Report

Now for the latest financial news with

As 12 years of left-wing rule in Argentina comes to an end,

we assess what its new leader will mean for the economy.

And as the Gas Exporting Countries Forum starts

in Tehran today, we assess the risks to our continued supplies.

Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock.

Also in the programme: Rico Hizon will investigate the case

But first, Argentina's presidential election is

likely to mark a turning point for the country's beleaguered economy.

South America's second-largest economy has slumped more than

a decade on from its 2001 meltdown and $100 billion debt default.

Global markets will watch this election result closely as Argentina

struggles to recover international credibility.

So, what does the new man in charge, conservative Mauricio Macri, bring

to the table and can he deliver the economic prosperity he promised?

With me is Jimena Blanco, principal analyst, Verisk Maplecroft.

This is a very poignant story for you, as you are from Argentina and

have family in the capital. How important a shift is this for the

economy? This is a crucial election in economic terms. The country only

grew 0.5% last year. In the previous decade, the average was 6.5%. People

want the economy to dig up again and they need that to happen and that is

what Mauricio Macri has promised he will do. We have to wait and see

what happens when he takes office. He was governor of Buenos Aires...

Mayor of the city. And he is talking about a more market led economy.

More investment and an end to corruption. I also imagine he has

his eye on some of those welfare programmes introduced by the

previous government that are very difficult to finance. There is a

great deal to unravel and bring in. Absolutely. He will not have a

luxury of a honeymoon, like most presidents do. He has promised a

policy shift from the get go. We are going to be expecting some

announcements. We are not sure what they will be but he has already

hinted that the first thing he would do is unravel the exchange market

regulations that prevent the free acquisition of foreign currencies.

He has talked about a transition exchange-rate. And markets will be

looking at what the value of that will be and how he structures the

unravelling of all of this. What will he face in terms of political

opposition? How easy will it be for him to bring about change and pass

new laws? It is not straightforward because his coalition does not have

a majority in either chamber of Congress. No political party does.

There will have to be a lot of negotiation. Our view is that the

third presidential candidate in the first round, who is also a Peronist

but an opposition Peronist, he will be in some ways a power broker and

that will enable him to pass legislation with some dissident

Peronist support and present himself as the future leader of the Peronist

groups. Thank you. Over to Asia now

and Rico Hizon is in our Rico,

you have a bit of a mystery for us. That is right. Drama unfolding at

the moment in the Hong Kong with the chairman and chief executive officer

of one of China's biggest stock brokerage companies going missing.

It be contacted and his whereabouts are not known at this point. As a

result, the stock price of his company has plunged by 17% on the

Hong Kong stock exchange. He is a high-profile figure in the local

securities industry. Pupil at this point may associate the incident

with the recent crackdown on the financial industry by mainland

authorities. -- people. We have also had staff at a leading securities

company and a top fund manager having been caught up in

investigations in stock trading. Also making headlines, there could

be a merger in the shipping container industry. France's CMACJM

has entered into negotiations with Singapore's Neptune Orient lines.

This would be one of the biggest acquisitions in the shipping

containment industry in years. Talks are expected to run until early next

month and that is when we will find out if they will be a merger of

these two huge shipping container companies. Thank you.

Foreign heads of state are in Tehran today for the

When it comes to gas, Europe has often suffered

Energy security has been an ongoing priority.

Now Europe is exploring the option of shale gas supplies from US.

But could shale gas have the same effect

Europe needs natural gas to fuel its household and its power stations but

produces little itself. The UK imports liquified natural gas by

ship from the Gulf state of Qatar. But countries in eastern and central

Europe rely on gas piped from Russia through Ukraine. In the past, Russia

has cut the supplies, leading to fuel shortages in the depths of

winter. Europe is looking to the US, where fracking or hydraulic

fracturing, has enabled drillers to produce huge amounts of natural gas

from shale rock. On trucking company is promising to send its first

shipments of liquified natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico early next

year -- on fracking company. Companies are investing millions of

dollars around Houston and the Gulf of Mexico. US companies could in a

few years the exporting 60 million tons per year of natural gas to

Europe and the rest of the world. If so, the US would join with Russia

and Qatar as a global gas exporting player.

With me is Trevor Sikorski from Energy Aspects.

This forum is happening today in Tehran. The US is not going to be

there and neither is Australia. This has been going on for years, and

they are not really gas exporters yet. Also Australia is, but not the

US. Tell us about these shifts expected over the next few years. I

think that the gas exporters have had it quite easy. They have tended

to sell gas and linked it to the price of oil so that as oil prices

went up, gas prices went up. But now there is something completely

different and this is this US gas, which will enter the market. It will

be linked directly to prices in North America, and these are much

lower than the global prices, so we will see a lot of gas coming in at

reasonably cheap prices. That will put pressure on existing exporters

and they will be seeing this as a big threat to their business models

and how gas is sold. Tell us how things are likely to go down in

Tehran. Russia is there and so is Qatar. Iran is hosting. Who else

will be there? It looks like we are going into a global age of

oversupply when it comes to gas, which is very good for consumers. A

lot of gas coming from a lot of different players. Iran has not

exported very much gas and they want a big piece of this expanding pie.

That is good for them. The Russians also have a lot of gas that they

want to get into the market, and so are the people and Qatar. Australia

has come in and so as the US. We have a lot of gas coming into the

market, so we have oversupply. That will probably last five to ten

years. This is a real period where consumers will benefit a lot. The

discussion today is going to have to be about what we do if prices do get

compressed down to these US prices. What does that mean for us as

exporters? And can any of us do anything about this? Thank you. A

massive challenge for Russia as well as it grapples with low oil prices,

a big part of its income. We can take a quick look at the financial

markets. The Japanese markets are closed today. No action in Japan

today but elsewhere, a mixed picture emerging, as you can see. I will be

back in a moment. From today, hospitals in England

will have to limit what they spend The government is introducing

a cap on the amount that can be