27/03/2017 World Business Report

Park Geun-hye, who was impeached earlier this month,

is accused of bribery, abusing her presidential power

Now for the latest financial news with and World Business Report.

Extending the cuts to oil production.

Major oil countries consider a plan in a bid to boost sagging prices.

And first day in the office for Hong Kong's new leader,

We'll be looking at the business reaction and challenges ahead.

BT has been hit with a record fine

It was a key weekend for the oil industry.

Members of the producers cartel OPEC and some of their allies

They signalled they are considering extending their curbs on how much

So what impact will this have on the price of oil and therefore

the cost of all kinds of things like energy and transport which make

a big contribution to what we pay for goods in the shops.

Oil prices rose sharply when the countries meeting in Kuwait

agreed to cut prodcution at the end of November,

and while prices held up for a while there's been a drop

They cut production to try and force prices up

because many of their economies rely on the money it brings

The biggest OPEC producer Saudi Arabia wants $60 per barrel.

One big problem has been an increase in global stockpiles.

Last week the US stockpile rose to $533 million and as it's

the biggest in the world that pushed

There's also renewed pressure from US shale oil producers.

As you can see here, the number of active US

rigs drilling for oil has doubled since May last year when it fell

to the lowest level since its all-time high in 2014.

With me is Alex Holbourn, director at Hannam and Partners.

Good morning, Alex. Morning. Tell us a bit more about the weekend in

Kuwait. Who was there in terms of OPEC and non- OPEC?

Was a meeting of a joint ministerial monitoring committee composed of

five Nations -- there was. Three OPEC member countries, Algeria,

Kuwait and Venezuela, and two non- OPEC member countries, Joe Marler

and Russia. Important players but not the likes of Saudi Arabia and by

no means the full crew. -- I'm an. What did we expect from the meeting

and what did we get? -- Oman. It was the second time they met and it was

established in January two compliant with the clubs agreed in November

and December -- to comply with. The effectiveness and the power of this

committee is as yet unclear. Discussions had as to whether or not

they extend the cuts from the current June deadline for another

six months. The thinking is they probably will, that was the

sentiment we got from the meeting, but it's a consideration at this

point that they can't give you any hard responses? Absolutely. They

look to measure whether or not compliance is being in line with

what was anticipated by each of the member states, and they looked at

independent sources to verify if people have been keeping in check

with what they promised they would deliver -- they look at. As yet it's

not certain what power or authority this committee has to really

determine the ultimate decision, which will be taken in May when they

meet on the 25th. I would imagine for OPEC members and those non- OPEC

members who agreed those cuts in December, they will be disappointed

the prices have not gone up, especially with the latest fall.

What is the thinking for prices bore the rest of the year? That's a

concern, the increase in the US with stockpiles rising at 1 million

barrels a day saw a ?5 million sell-off in the oil price over the

last five days or so. People would like to see the extension of the

cuts or another six months. I think there will be a slight

disappointment there hasn't been something more concrete realised

today. In fact in the draft release they did look like they would

recommend to extend those cuts for a further six months, but then in the

updated version they said they would review it again in April ahead of

the meeting in May. Alex, for now, thank you for your time. We will

keep an eye on the oil price, it was hovering around $50 a barrel for the

Brent crude, we will look at the details later in the programme.

The first woman elected as leader of Hong Kong has vowed to heal

divisions amid demands for more democracy and protests

Carrie Lam had the backing of the Chinese government in Beijing

of the territory's new chief executive?

What are they saying about Carrie Lam? Well, Sally, I can tell you

that investors are not reacting to this news because it was already

something that was forcing. Carrie Lam was the front runner, she was

very much the preferred candidate of the Chinese government and she also

had the support of the city's business community, seen as

relatively pro-business, although her arrival, John Tsang, who was

much more popular with the general public, he was a financial

secretary, he had some support from the business community. -- her

arrival. But certainly they threw their backing under Mrs Lamb and she

was elected with 777 votes, the most votes ever cast for a chief

executive candidate. -- her rival. -- Miss Lam. The general public

didn't have a say in this. There are concerns about Mrs Lam. She is a

divisive and polarising figure. She became so in the last few years. She

was the person responsible for selling this political reform

agenda, which didn't pass, and the introduction of which helped to

trigger the 2014 pro-democracy protests. There are worries with her

in charge that there could be more protests to come. Let me just show

you the front page of a Hong Kong newspaper, this is the Oriental

Daily News, this is the addition today, you have Carrie Lam, a large

photo of her, and next to her you might be able to make out Joshua

Wong, one of the leaders of the pro-democracy protests, the Umbrella

Movement in 2014, here he is clashing with police trying to get

into the voting the new. He's now a politician and the leader of his own

party and they have said come the first of July when Mrs Lam takes

over as chief executive, they are planning a civil disobedience

movement. -- voting venue. We don't know how big it will be but it seems

activists are already starting to mobilise against her. So from day

one she's going to have a tough job balancing the demands in Hong Kong

and the demand is coming from the government in mainland China? -- and

the demands coming. It's a tough job, one I'm surprised frankly she

decided to take because previously she said she wanted to retire to the

UK. But you're right, not even a minute's honeymoon. When she was

announced the winner there was obviously lots of applause but just

minutes after she was declared the winner of this election, there were

a group of people marching with yellow umbrellas, symbols of the

Umbrella Movement, calling for universal suffrage. Even when she

was meant to be taking a victory lap, there were people protesting

against the entire election process and protesting against her. We may

see more of the same. Nice to see you, Juliana, talk to you again I'm

sure. BT has been hit with a record fine

by the UK regulator Ofcom and has set aside more

than $370 million to repay providers for delays

in installing high-speed lines. Ofcom has issued the firm

with a $52 million fine, which it says is the largest it

has ever handed down. French president Francois

Hollande is in Singapore and has expressed a desire

to strengthen its partnership According to Associated Press,

the president said that in an environment of isolation,

nationalism and protectionism the two countries must lead the way

in opening confidence Uber Technologies has

suspended its pilot programme for driverless cars

after a vehicle equipped with the technology crashed

on a road in Arizona. The police say the crash happened

when another car failed to give way That show you the markets on a

brand-new trading week. You can see how things are going in Asia. --

let's show you. A lot of the reaction to the fact that Donald

Trump did not get his way when it came to the reform of the affordable

healthcare act, so we're seeing some declines. A strengthening of the

yen, which never helps stocks trading in Tokyo. You can see the

price of oil edging down slightly, remaining just below $51 a barrel.

I'll see you soon. MPs must introduce tougher measures

to tackle childhood obesity