:00:00. > :00:00.ago in Oxfordshire. Ben Blakeley, who is 22 and from Reading, is due
:00:00. > :00:07.to appear before magistrates later this morning.
:00:08. > :00:19.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:20. > :00:29.One year on, the Japanese economy. Is it a hit or miss?
:00:30. > :00:37.To hike or not to hike, the dilemma facing India's central bank.
:00:38. > :00:46.Thank you for joining us. We start off with Japan and business
:00:47. > :00:55.confidence among big manufacturers has increased. A survey revealed
:00:56. > :01:00.that the sentiment index for big manufacturers improved by four
:01:01. > :01:11.points from the September quarter to a six-year high. The data comes
:01:12. > :01:17.after the President marks his one-year in office. He promised
:01:18. > :01:23.economic reforms. This morning 's survey also showed that large
:01:24. > :01:28.companies planned to increase capital spending by just 4.6% in the
:01:29. > :01:33.financial year to March 2014. That is lower than what economists were
:01:34. > :01:38.hoping for. The government also plans to go ahead with the higher
:01:39. > :01:47.sales tax from 5% to 8%, starting April. I asked if the upcoming
:01:48. > :01:50.consumer tax will create a dent in wealth prospects for the Japanese
:01:51. > :01:57.economy. We will certainly see demand being
:01:58. > :02:00.brought forward and we will have strong consumer spending in the
:02:01. > :02:11.first quarter. And then it will slump. The survey showed that
:02:12. > :02:14.manufacturers are quite confident and will only see out mild
:02:15. > :02:18.deterioration in the second quarter. What are the three top
:02:19. > :02:25.things in your wish list that you hope that Shinzo Abe at will
:02:26. > :02:32.implement next year? We want to see more easing. So far, we see that
:02:33. > :02:39.piece is insufficient to reach the deflation target. We want to see
:02:40. > :02:45.some reforms in the labour market and in the TPP negotiations to
:02:46. > :02:51.succeed. We want to see agricultural production to be lowered.
:02:52. > :02:58.For more on the progress of the Japanese economy, log onto our
:02:59. > :03:03.website and check out the latest commentary.
:03:04. > :03:08.In the airline industry, Singapore -based budget carrier is joining
:03:09. > :03:13.with Thailand's low-cost airline. The two are coming together to
:03:14. > :03:24.create a new low-cost carrier. It will be based in Bangkok. It will
:03:25. > :03:31.have a 51% 's -- it will be split 51% to 49%. The investment is over
:03:32. > :03:33.-- with over $60 million. Australian Prime Minister Tony
:03:34. > :03:41.Abbott has supported calls from Qantas for a level playing field
:03:42. > :03:44.against Virgin Australia. Qantas called for a change in rules as it
:03:45. > :03:51.faced a record loss. The Qantas sales act, which came into place in
:03:52. > :03:56.1992, limits foreign ownership of the carrier to 49% and requires
:03:57. > :03:58.Qantas to keep the majority of its maintenance operations in Australia.
:03:59. > :04:09.The airline has long complained that Virgin Australia and its majors
:04:10. > :04:15.shareholders provide virgin to access -- access to foreign funding,
:04:16. > :04:17.that by denying at the level playing field.
:04:18. > :04:21.In New Zealand, consumer confidence is bouncing back to a four-year high
:04:22. > :04:28.as consumers got to talents there finances. More jobs are being
:04:29. > :04:40.created and it is one of the reasons that a reading of the consumer
:04:41. > :04:41.confidence index Rose to 120, from 150.
:04:42. > :04:45.India's central bank will revealing whether or not whether it will
:04:46. > :04:50.change interest rates over the following month. It has increased
:04:51. > :04:53.borrowing twice to try to keep soaring prices in check. It is also
:04:54. > :05:04.doing a time when growth has remained slow.
:05:05. > :05:09.This man has lived in this building all of his life. In the next few
:05:10. > :05:17.months, he has to move out. Like most old buildings in the city, his
:05:18. > :05:20.home is going to be redeveloped. Even though the developer is
:05:21. > :05:25.providing him with compensation, he says it will not be enough to buy a
:05:26. > :05:29.new home. The prospect of taking a loan is not very appealing. I will
:05:30. > :05:34.be looking for a home loan, but I cannot take the burden right now.
:05:35. > :05:45.The interest rate just keeps going up. Might budget cannot make it
:05:46. > :05:48.happen in the current scenario. High interest rates coupled with the
:05:49. > :05:52.slowing economy has made it difficult for consumers to buy
:05:53. > :05:55.homes. It has hit sales in a big way, forcing many real estate
:05:56. > :05:59.developers to offer discounts. That has not helped much. It is not only
:06:00. > :06:04.consumers that are feeling the pressure of high interest rates.
:06:05. > :06:09.Businesses to our feeling the heat. -- are feeling the heat. This
:06:10. > :06:16.factory based in Mumbai and makes switchgears, which are used in
:06:17. > :06:19.housing apartments and apartment complexes desperate housing
:06:20. > :06:24.competence. The slowdown means it has not been getting many orders
:06:25. > :06:33.over the past few years. Rising labour and energy prices have impact
:06:34. > :06:39.that its costs. If that was not bad enough, high interest rates have
:06:40. > :06:45.squeezed its profit even further. We have to look for some alternate way
:06:46. > :06:50.of financing. We may have to look for some cheaper funds from a rule
:06:51. > :06:53.-- from abroad, if it is available. The banking industry here cannot
:06:54. > :06:57.provide us and we have to look for alternatives if we are to stay in
:06:58. > :07:01.business. It will be a big challenge for us. The Indian central bank,
:07:02. > :07:07.also known as the RBI, has increased key lending rates twice in the last
:07:08. > :07:12.three months. This is mainly due to high inflation, driven by rising
:07:13. > :07:16.food prices. The government and industry have been clamouring for a
:07:17. > :07:19.rate cut to revive the slowing economy, but so far, the bank is
:07:20. > :07:25.showing no signs of getting the pressure.
:07:26. > :07:30.The rates decision from the Indian Reserve Bank is due later this
:07:31. > :07:34.week, on Wednesday. December is traditionally one of the
:07:35. > :07:40.best months. Markets because of the so-called Santa Claus rally. That is
:07:41. > :07:45.when the sharemarket rise over the ten days before the New Year.
:07:46. > :07:53.Overall volatility would best describe 2013. I spoke to the stock
:07:54. > :07:56.exchange president in Philippines, which has experienced some major
:07:57. > :08:00.bumps. I think the year has been quite good
:08:01. > :08:04.for the Philippines and for the stock market for 2013. Good in the
:08:05. > :08:10.sense that we have a lot more activity on the exchange, more
:08:11. > :08:13.liquidity, more IP growth and new products and services be launched.
:08:14. > :08:20.How have the regional conflicts, the bribery scandals and the natural
:08:21. > :08:26.rate cashback natural cork at these impacted -- bribery scandals and
:08:27. > :08:33.natural calamities impacted customer they have contributed to the
:08:34. > :08:37.volatility that you talk about. I would say there have been some
:08:38. > :08:42.overreactions. But overall, I would say that the basic fundamentals
:08:43. > :08:47.prevail when you take a look at trends. This year has been a
:08:48. > :08:54.milestone for the Philippines. It got an investment-grade status from
:08:55. > :08:58.some of the key ratings agencies. How has this helped in terms of
:08:59. > :09:05.bringing new investors? Tremendous. We are seeing a lot of first time
:09:06. > :09:07.portfolio managers who have never invested because they could never
:09:08. > :09:14.invest in an investment-grade investment and that rating has given
:09:15. > :09:21.a third-party cheque in terms of saying the country is okayed, the
:09:22. > :09:26.financials OK, and the fundamentals are looking decent. When you take a
:09:27. > :09:37.look at who we are seeing, a big influx, for example, in what I would
:09:38. > :09:40.call Japan Inc. An amazing number of portfolio flows coming in from that
:09:41. > :09:44.sector, which was not present before. In 2014, what would be the
:09:45. > :09:49.red flags for the Philippine economy and for the capital markets?
:09:50. > :09:55.The biggest red flag on the ground will be how this reconstruction
:09:56. > :09:59.relating to the storm will be, in terms of how much infrastructure
:10:00. > :10:03.build will the company -- country be able to do, something people have
:10:04. > :10:10.been looking forward to for quite sometime. The capital market, the
:10:11. > :10:16.real question is what will be the impact of the US Federal cup talk.
:10:17. > :10:21.That last year that created so much volatility in our local market and
:10:22. > :10:27.that could be a swing back in how markets are perceived, including the
:10:28. > :10:28.Philippines. Thank you for investing your time
:10:29. > :10:46.with us. Goodbye for now. I'm Adnan Nawaz. The top stories
:10:47. > :10:47.this hour: the actor Peter O'Toole, renowned for playing 'Lawrence of
:10:48. > :10:48.Arabia' in the