03/03/2016 World Business Report

Apparently it will take some time to decide.

Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News.

Now for the latest financial news with

Finding work where they can, Brazilians weather the worst

Plus, the deadlock continues as Spain's political crisis threatens

I'm Sally Bundock, also in the programme: Toshiba surges as

We start in Brazil, as it struggles with the worst

In a few hours' time official figures are expected to confirm

the once booming economy shrank last year at the steepest rate

Analysts including the International Monetary Fund think

Brazil's economy contracted almost 4% last year, the worst performance

Meanwhile soaring prices are hitting people's living standards, with

1.5 million jobs disappeared last year, the fastest pace of job

Part of the reason is the slump in commodity prices.

The slowdown in China means there's far less demand for the minerals and

It's also an oil exporter, so it's been hit hard

But other problems are definitely home grown.

A vast corruption scandal at state-run oil producer Petrobras

has implicated key politicians and business leaders, shaking

the government of President Dilma Rousseff and further damaging the

Brazil's once growing middle class is being battered, as people who

were climbing the career ladder find themselves sliding back down again.

Daniel Gallas reports from Sao Paolo.

Five years ago, Simona thought her days as a housemaid were over when

she got a job at a supermarket. Many like her were moving from being

domestic workers in middle-class family houses into more skilled

jobs, and with higher wages. But things did not turn up the way she

expected. TRANSLATION: There was a time when I would leave a job in

less than a month later I would be employed somewhere else. Now, before

I started this job, I spent months unemployed searching for work. A few

months ago, when Brazil's economy was booming, workers like this had

plenty of good job opportunities in the industry or shops. But now with

unemployment on the rise, double-digit pin placement, --

double-digit inflation, people are having to go back to their role

jobs. This agency for domestic workers said there are 92% more

workers looking for jobs this year. TRANSLATION: We see two common

situations. People coming back to being made is the years in the

industry for working in jobs, or women who were maids with higher

wages, now moving onto more precarious informal jobs. It is not

just domestic workers. The recession is having an effect on everyone. The

informal sector is expanding again. Last year, there were 2.6 million

unemployed Brazilians more than the year before. A 41% jump. During that

period, 1 million formal jobs were closed. Many workers are moving into

the black market, operating as domestic workers and also as street

vendors in other lower paid jobs. Businesses, investors and consumers

are all holding onto their money and not spending. Interest rates and

mortgages are at their highest rate in five years. People are having to

work harder but are still seeing their standards of living drop.

Simona certainly knows what that feels like. She moved into a smaller

house and sold her car. But with all her troubles, she still considers

herself lucky to have a job at all. We are also in Spain where,

despite a patchy recovery from years of recession, more than 4

million people that's 20% of the The economic crisis has left

the country in political deadlock, after big gains for anti-austerity

parties in December's election that What you are seeing here is another

failed attempt in parliament If Spain can't resolve its political

crisis it faces new elections and a Spanish stocks have been

among Europe's worst performers Madrid is due to sell billions

of dollars' worth Federico Santi is Europe Analyst

at Eurasia Group. Good morning, thank you for coming

in. Talk through the political situation, because it is complicated

and it is difficult to see how it will be resolved, which is partly

why there is so much uncertainty about Spain at the moment, which

markets hate. That is right, Spanish politics was dominated for a long

time by two big political parties, the Conservatives and the

Socialists. This estranged dramatically with the rise of two

new parties, which is a reflection of discontent with the established

political elites, a direct consequence of the crisis. This is

something that has happened across the eurozone and Europe, and is

happening in Spain with some lag, as the electoral cycle catches up and

changes in society. This is something we could see coming,

because Podemos was gaining momentum as an anti- austerity party, some

saying it was inspired by Syriza in Greece. Explain the impact on the

Spanish economy. Projections for this year are still healthy growth,

is that right? There is no suggestion that the political

discourse is having a huge impact on the economy. Years ago that might

have been a different story, but right now we are still one of the

most fast-growing economies in Europe. That could change if this

goes on for much longer though. The country could be left without a

functioning government for the better part of 2016, which could

take some of the momentum of the otherwise strong Spanish economy.

Thank you for coming in, we shall keep an eye on how that progresses.

A lot of those who support Podemos our young people, and they are out

of work. Let's go to Asia now where

another of Japan's big Sharanjit Leyl is in Singapore

for us. It seems Toshiba has got

a lifeline from the banks? Not so long ago we were talking

about Sharp being rescued. Toshiba shares are doing very well today,

rallying more than 12%. This confirms that the firm was about to

secure some substantial new loans for its restructuring efforts. This

was in a report on talks with Japanese investors over money it

needs to reorganise its business in the wake of a massive accounting

scandal last year. The electronics giant is hoping for loans of up to

$2.2 billion. Toshiba confirmed the talks but said details had not been

decided. According to the report, some of Japan's biggest banks were

likely to provide funds as early as later this month. We know the funds

are vital, coming of course after the company admitted in 2015 that it

had overstated its profits by $1.3 billion over seven years. Of course,

it is part of efforts to try to balance its books, announcing major

job cuts and losses of external investing. They have lost about 4%

of their value since the news last year of them overstating their

profits began to emerge. Toshiba shares riding high on those

stories today. One of the pioneers of the US

fracking industry has died in a car crash, a day after he was

indicted for allegedly rigging bids Aubrey McClendon was

the former head of Chesapeake Energy, which he turned

into one of the world's largest natural gas producers worth some $25

billion at its peak before he was His car hit a bridge wall

in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Police said he was the only occupant

and no other vehicles were involved. The owners of a Brazilian mine

involved in country's worst environmental disaster have agreed

to pay 4.4 billion real, about 1.1 Samarco is co-owned by Vale

of Brazil and global mining giant In November,

two of its dams ruptured causing the mudslide that destroyed

the town of Mariana in southern Financial markets: we are at an

eight-week high, with oil prices rising above $35 a barrel. Emerging

market currencies are strengthening. Is this a turning point? We seem to

be losing the fear factor. Let's see how long that lasts. I will see you

soon. There's a warning that

the government's extension of Right to Buy for housing association

tenants in England will have a disproportionate effect

on older and disabled people. Under the scheme,

councils will be forced to sell