:00:00. > :00:00.flood warnings are in place - 14 affecting the River Thames and two
:00:00. > :00:17.in the Somerset Levels. Now on BBC News, all the latest business news
:00:18. > :00:21.live from Singapore. No emerging market relief for the Federal
:00:22. > :00:26.reserve chief. They will continue winding down the stimulus programme.
:00:27. > :00:31.Day two of the Singapore airshow. We find out more about the first DT
:00:32. > :00:43.you'll is -- deals being made at Asia's biggest aviation event. We
:00:44. > :00:46.kick off with the first congressional testimony of Janet
:00:47. > :00:49.Yellen who is becoming chair of the US Federal reserve. She made it
:00:50. > :00:52.clear the central bank is on track in pulling back in stimulus
:00:53. > :00:55.programme. It will continue to gradually reduce the amount of money
:00:56. > :00:59.it pumps into the US economy as long as there is no slowdown. US stocks
:01:00. > :01:06.rallied overnight on her statement with the Dow Jones and NASDAQ also
:01:07. > :01:16.gaining. Ms Yellin's comments come despite a rocky start to the year
:01:17. > :01:19.that saw a sharp sell-off. It has been a little over a week since
:01:20. > :01:24.Janet Yellen was sworn in as chair of America's central bank. She is
:01:25. > :01:32.already made the trek to Capitol Hill. The US has seen some weak
:01:33. > :01:39.economic data. Including some lacklustre unemployment numbers. Has
:01:40. > :01:53.the weak jobs report caused you to consider slowing the pace of the
:01:54. > :01:55.Fed's 's tapering? I was surprised that the reports in December and
:01:56. > :01:59.January, the pace of job creation was running under what I had
:02:00. > :02:04.anticipated. But we have to be very careful not to jump to conclusions.
:02:05. > :02:14.The Fed believes that the US economy may still be on the path to
:02:15. > :02:20.recovery. The gradual reduction in asset purchases is wreaking havoc in
:02:21. > :02:30.emerging markets. As investors pull money out. We have been watching
:02:31. > :02:33.closely the recent volatility in global financial markets. Our sense
:02:34. > :02:36.is that at this stage these developments do not pose a
:02:37. > :02:38.substantial risk to the US economic outlook. We will, of course continue
:02:39. > :02:41.to monitor the situation. The Federal reserve believes its primary
:02:42. > :02:47.responsibility is to this country's economy. While it is watching very
:02:48. > :02:49.closely what happens in emerging markets, unless it negatively
:02:50. > :03:02.effects America's economic recovery, we can expect the Federal reserve to
:03:03. > :03:04.stay the course. As you heard, the house of Representatives have voted
:03:05. > :03:19.to suspend the debt limit until March 2015. The move raises the
:03:20. > :03:22.government authority to avoid a default at the end of the month. The
:03:23. > :03:32.outcome is a victory for President Obama who has lobbied for weeks to
:03:33. > :03:34.have the debt ceiling reached. Positive reactions from Asian
:03:35. > :03:50.markets regarding Janet Yellen's testimony. Currently they are all in
:03:51. > :03:52.positive territory. In other business news making headlines,
:03:53. > :03:56.fresh official trade numbers from China revealed. The country's
:03:57. > :04:00.exports in January rose by just over ten and a half percent compared to
:04:01. > :04:02.last year. That is well above most forecasts. The Asian giant imports
:04:03. > :04:10.also exceeded expectations, growing by 10% and leaving the country with
:04:11. > :04:13.a surplus of $32 billion. In Australia, one of the big lenders,
:04:14. > :04:21.Commonwealth Bank gained 14% to about $3.8 billion. The results of
:04:22. > :04:29.the period came in better than analysts' expectations. The results
:04:30. > :04:40.show that the bank is focused on its long-term priorities. Staying with
:04:41. > :04:49.banking and to the UK lending giant, Barclays. It says it is set to cut
:04:50. > :04:54.12,000 jobs. The bank has a global staff including teams in Asia. The
:04:55. > :05:17.staff cuts come at a time when the bank is increasing its staff
:05:18. > :05:22.bonuses. Its bonus pool is rising by 10% to nearly $4 billion. One of the
:05:23. > :05:26.things that we do when we look at bonuses is we have to be competitive
:05:27. > :05:29.on pay and we have to pay for performance. We operate in countries
:05:30. > :05:32.from Singapore to San Francisco and we compete for talent in global
:05:33. > :05:36.markets so we have to be competitive and our judgement was this year, it
:05:37. > :05:39.was important that we increase the bogus pull by 10%. The profits are
:05:40. > :05:42.down for the reasons that I said. It is in the interest of our
:05:43. > :05:54.shareholders that we pay the compensation that we are. People
:05:55. > :06:06.don't understand that? Aside from our investment, two of our
:06:07. > :06:09.businesses have done really well. Equities and the banking division
:06:10. > :06:13.grew by 3%. Our fixed income business was down. We have paid for
:06:14. > :06:26.performance as it is aligned with our principles. Earlier I spoke to
:06:27. > :06:35.the managing editor at eight Asian bank to ask him his thoughts on the
:06:36. > :06:39.bonus scheme. On the surface of it, it raises a number of questions at a
:06:40. > :06:42.time when topline and bottom-line numbers are down. As you mentioned,
:06:43. > :06:58.Barclays is in the process of transition. A transformation. The
:06:59. > :07:02.CEO and board of directors obviously have to look at what this means for
:07:03. > :07:08.the business. They are trying to grow their business and retain
:07:09. > :07:14.staff. He mentioned one point two billion in restructuring costs. It
:07:15. > :07:17.is substantially higher. With this mindset there has been a lot of
:07:18. > :07:21.backlash against banks and their higher paid CEOs since the financial
:07:22. > :07:26.crisis in the UK. Do people in financial centres like Hong Kong
:07:27. > :07:46.share this feeling? In Singapore, we have observed that the culture in
:07:47. > :07:49.Asia is much more conservative. The first deals to be made at Asia's
:07:50. > :07:55.largest aviation event, the Singapore Air Show has just been
:07:56. > :08:00.revealed. Airbus has said that it had 20 orders for its super jumbo
:08:01. > :08:04.worth about $8.3 billion. Other deals announced this week. Myanmar's
:08:05. > :08:16.national carrier also announced a deal worth nearly $1 billion. I
:08:17. > :08:25.spoke earlier to our reporter who is at the airshow. Myanmar is seen as
:08:26. > :08:35.having huge potential. Some even describing it as the next frontier
:08:36. > :08:39.in aviation. Myanmar has had some of the highest passenger rates in Asia.
:08:40. > :08:45.There are many challenges. Thank you, Andrew for joining us. There
:08:46. > :08:58.are already eight carriers in Myanmar. Is there a risk of
:08:59. > :09:02.overcapacity? Until recently, it has been a small market. There were a
:09:03. > :09:05.number of small airlines that are looking to grow with the opening up
:09:06. > :09:13.of the market. We are seeing exciting developments. It is very
:09:14. > :09:16.competitive. Do you think with the domestic market being so fierce but
:09:17. > :09:19.there are foreign players coming on board. Do you think the country and
:09:20. > :09:30.its infrastructure are ready? It is a fantastic tourist destination. The
:09:31. > :09:34.tourist numbers are growing rapidly but the key challenges are, while
:09:35. > :09:37.the infrastructure keep up? That involves new investment and the
:09:38. > :09:40.Myanmar government is talking to new investors and bringing foreign
:09:41. > :09:42.expertise. The potential is there but it needs to be carefully
:09:43. > :09:51.co-ordinated to make sure we can satisfy that demand effectively.
:09:52. > :10:08.Very exciting times for the Asia Pacific, particularly Myanmar. The
:10:09. > :10:10.challenge will now be will be whether infrastructure be able to
:10:11. > :10:13.keep pace with the growing demands? We will be bringing you the latest
:10:14. > :10:17.from this major airshow events throughout the day and this week.
:10:18. > :10:19.You can go to our website for the latest news. Today, the competition
:10:20. > :10:33.to have the best in-flight entertainment. We have a new Twitter
:10:34. > :10:44.ID. That is BBC News Asia at BBC News Asia.
:10:45. > :10:49.The top stories this hour. Officials from South Korea have left Seoul for
:10:50. > :10:52.the border village of Panmunjon where they will hold the highest
:10:53. > :10:55.level talks with the North for several years. Hundreds of civilians
:10:56. > :11:02.remain trapped in the Syrian city of Homs after attempts to get them out
:11:03. > :11:05.of the besieged centre failed. Many of the country's top scientists are
:11:06. > :11:07.warning that in some communities the floodwaters will