:00:15. > :00:23.Heavy snow days have an impact on the Japanese economy. Challenging
:00:24. > :00:24.times in Thailand, growth numbers could reveal the economic toll from
:00:25. > :00:37.the political stand-off. Welcome to Asia Business Report. We
:00:38. > :00:40.kick off in Japan, and it is latest growth numbers reveal the economy
:00:41. > :00:47.expanded by 0.3% in the final three months of last year. That is the
:00:48. > :00:50.fourth straight quarter of growth. The data shows a pickup in
:00:51. > :00:58.spending, people making big spending in cars and luxury goods. For now,
:00:59. > :01:01.the immediate worry is how to recover from the second heavy
:01:02. > :01:04.snowfall in a week, which is injured hundreds over the weekend. The
:01:05. > :01:14.snowstorm has paralysed traffic and let -- led to the grounding of
:01:15. > :01:20.several flights. We are speaking to our reporter in Tokyo. We spoke with
:01:21. > :01:24.one economist earlier, and he said that these problems in Japan,
:01:25. > :01:27.particularly the snowfalls, could have an impact on the economy which
:01:28. > :01:34.could hurt exports, and increase imports. Potentially, it could. We
:01:35. > :01:39.have had very heavy snow over the weekend, even in Tokyo with more
:01:40. > :01:43.than 20 centimetres of snow. That has now pretty much gone. In the
:01:44. > :01:49.north of Japan, some people had over half a metre of snow in 24 hours.
:01:50. > :01:53.Roads are still blocked, electricity is still out, so that is having an
:01:54. > :01:56.effect locally. If the snow continues, if we get more heavy
:01:57. > :02:03.falls ring the rest of the month, it will potentially have an impact on
:02:04. > :02:06.the economy, and it could have an impact on heating bills, the need to
:02:07. > :02:11.import more energy to supply electricity for heating. On the
:02:12. > :02:16.other hand, it has been a very warm winter prior to this in Japan this
:02:17. > :02:20.year, so overall it is hard to say what kind of impact it will have.
:02:21. > :02:26.You have the Japanese economy expanding for four straight
:02:27. > :02:32.quarters, but the last quarter was just 0.3%. What are analysts telling
:02:33. > :02:38.you? Has Abenomics lost its momentum? That is the concern. What
:02:39. > :02:43.we saw is that early last year, when Abenomics was launched, we saw a big
:02:44. > :02:49.jump in economic growth in the first and second quarters. We have seen
:02:50. > :02:54.that really taper off, suggest 0.3% in the September to December
:02:55. > :02:59.quarter, which is much lower. That means that for the whole of last
:03:00. > :03:07.year, Japan's economy grew by just 1.6%. The year before Shinzo Abe
:03:08. > :03:12.came to power, it grew by 2.4%. It is not looking all that great.
:03:13. > :03:23.Before we let you go, everyone is looking towards Shinzo Abe pursuing
:03:24. > :03:29.the third Arrow. Going forward this year, we have a big tax hike coming
:03:30. > :03:33.in, and he needs something more to help him get this economy working
:03:34. > :03:37.again, and the big one is wage rises. Until people in Japan feel
:03:38. > :03:40.that the money in their pocket is growing, they will not go out and
:03:41. > :03:47.start spending. That is just not happening at the moment. Thank you
:03:48. > :03:50.very much. In Thailand, we are expecting data
:03:51. > :03:54.later today that will give us insight into the effect of the
:03:55. > :03:57.political protest there. Thailand was already struggling with which
:03:58. > :04:04.exports before the turmoil began in November. The outlook now is looking
:04:05. > :04:09.much more uncertain. Natural disasters and protests have
:04:10. > :04:13.affected Thailand's economic growth in the past, but in quiet years
:04:14. > :04:18.Southeast Asia's second largest economy has proven to be resilient.
:04:19. > :04:24.Even now, the World Bank forecasts for GDP growth in 2014 are still
:04:25. > :04:27.fairly optimistic at 4%. Those numbers depend on exports picking
:04:28. > :04:31.up, and protests coming to an end. It is still unclear how the current
:04:32. > :04:36.political deadlock, now three months old, will be resolved. There was a
:04:37. > :04:41.general election earlier this month, but in street is disrupted it, and
:04:42. > :04:48.it is unclear when or even if the voting can be completed. That has a
:04:49. > :04:52.direct effect on the economy, because the caretaker government has
:04:53. > :04:55.limited powers to spend and borrow. So, planned spending on
:04:56. > :04:59.infrastructure and transport, which would have helped jumpstart the
:05:00. > :05:03.economy, are stalled until there is a Neuadd ministrations. At least ten
:05:04. > :05:07.people have been killed and scores injured during the protests are in
:05:08. > :05:10.many foreign governments have responded by issuing travel
:05:11. > :05:15.warnings. As a result, the tourism industry has suffered. In recent
:05:16. > :05:19.years, the sector has been one of the star performers of the Thai
:05:20. > :05:23.economy. At the moment, tourists are taking their money elsewhere. The
:05:24. > :05:26.tourism Minister says Thailand has lost about 100,000 visitors since
:05:27. > :05:36.November, and he is concerned it could get worse. The latest numbers
:05:37. > :05:45.were -- will likely put pressure on the economy.
:05:46. > :05:54.The Finance Minister will present a mini to Parliament this year. -- a
:05:55. > :05:59.mini budget. With concerns about inflation, it will be closely
:06:00. > :06:07.watched. Will it help anything that will help the Indian economy?
:06:08. > :06:12.For months now, many of India's factories have been in a spin. With
:06:13. > :06:16.rising prices on one hand, and falling consumer demand on the
:06:17. > :06:23.other, they have slowed down. The impact has been felt on the economy.
:06:24. > :06:27.If the taxes on goods produced in India are reduced, would that get
:06:28. > :06:30.consumers buying again? This is what some from the industry are hoping
:06:31. > :06:34.the Finance Minister will announce in his interim budget. It is a
:06:35. > :06:36.difficult situation, because that would bring down government
:06:37. > :06:42.revenues, which would mean that the fiscal deficit gets affected. Over
:06:43. > :06:47.the past year, India has been tried to get its finances in order. But it
:06:48. > :06:50.is a tricky balancing act. Fuel subsidies are one of the
:06:51. > :06:55.government's biggest expenses, because India imports most of the
:06:56. > :07:01.oil it needs. Cutting subsidies, and in effect hiking the price of fuel,
:07:02. > :07:05.a politically sensitive issue. That is just one measure the government
:07:06. > :07:11.has had to take. This is the first time in 26 years that we have had
:07:12. > :07:15.GDP growth below 5%. That constrains what you can do on the revenue and
:07:16. > :07:19.tax front. The government has had to rely on is cutting off planned
:07:20. > :07:29.expenditures towards the end of the year. Reducing subsidies, and also
:07:30. > :07:37.generating nontax revenue. We have seen spectrum sales, dividends from
:07:38. > :07:40.public sales. There is little room for the present leadership to make
:07:41. > :07:47.any big promises in the last budget of their term. One silver lining is
:07:48. > :07:52.that inflation has been showing signs of coming down. Vegetable
:07:53. > :07:56.prices, which had skyrocketed late last year, have fallen
:07:57. > :07:59.substantially. While this is arguably more down to market supply
:08:00. > :08:03.and favourable weather and political interference, the government will be
:08:04. > :08:10.hoping this is something people consider when they come out to cast
:08:11. > :08:14.their vote. If there is one thing that Indians
:08:15. > :08:18.love, it is gold. The precious metal was being bought in large volumes,
:08:19. > :08:22.and the government has been cracking down on imports. It seems to be
:08:23. > :08:27.having an impact. Demand has fallen by about a third in recent months.
:08:28. > :08:38.We went to Bangalore to have a look at the Golden love affair of India.
:08:39. > :08:49.Some call it a yellow metal, others see it as the only safe investment.
:08:50. > :08:53.Whatever you might see it as, nowhere in the world does gold
:08:54. > :08:57.glitter the way it does in India. Whether it is a wedding, festival,
:08:58. > :09:03.or just a straightforward investment opportunity, it doesn't matter,
:09:04. > :09:06.because Indians love buying gold. No wonder then that India is the
:09:07. > :09:15.largest consumer of gold in the world. The craze for gold might be a
:09:16. > :09:19.good thing, but for the government has been a big cause for concern
:09:20. > :09:23.over the few years. High gold imports have strained government
:09:24. > :09:28.finances, in fact, after oil, it is the second biggest item on the
:09:29. > :09:32.import bill. That is why last year, the government decided to levy high
:09:33. > :09:34.import duty on gold, to discourage people from buying it.
:09:35. > :09:42.Interestingly, the finance minister of the country directly appealed to
:09:43. > :09:48.the people to stop buying gold. It seems to be working, as gold imports
:09:49. > :09:54.have gone down substantially for the last year. Many believe this is a
:09:55. > :09:58.temporary blip. Given the track record of the Indian consumer, it is
:09:59. > :10:03.unlikely that gold will lose its shine for long.
:10:04. > :10:09.Before we go to the markets, news just in. We have the latest economic
:10:10. > :10:16.growth numbers from Thailand from October to December. It came in at
:10:17. > :10:21.0.6% quarter on quarter, in line with expectations. There is a quick
:10:22. > :10:25.look at Asian stock markets, and all of them are now in positive
:10:26. > :10:29.territory after US equities finished higher on Friday. Thank you for
:10:30. > :10:46.investing your time with us. Our top stories: A number of illegal
:10:47. > :10:51.miners are staying underground at an abandoned goldmine in South Africa,
:10:52. > :10:55.fearing that if they emerge they will be arrested. At least four
:10:56. > :10:56.people have been killed in