:00:00. > :00:14.Now it is time for the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:26.Up in the air. Will changes to ownership structure help turn things
:00:27. > :00:29.around for Qantas? And, the world's most expensive city is in Asia, but
:00:30. > :00:41.it is no longer Tokyo. Welcome to Asia Business Report. We
:00:42. > :00:44.start with the Australian government, which has decided to
:00:45. > :00:48.relax foreign ownership restrictions on Qantas Airways, days after the
:00:49. > :00:52.national carrier posted a record half-year loss. The minister Tony
:00:53. > :00:59.Abbott said his cabinet investors have agreed to repeal legislation
:01:00. > :01:05.that prevents other airlines from owning more than 35% of Qantas. The
:01:06. > :01:08.government could struggle to pass the changes through Senate, where
:01:09. > :01:13.opposition parties have raised objections to any reforms that could
:01:14. > :01:19.send Qantas jobs overseas. Earlier, I spoke to our correspondent in
:01:20. > :01:24.Australia. I asked him whether suitors would be lining up for a
:01:25. > :01:28.stake in the airline. The Qantas management says it is being hampered
:01:29. > :01:32.by current restrictions, but to limit the amount of foreign
:01:33. > :01:36.ownership in the airline. They have always said that if the rules were
:01:37. > :01:40.relaxed, foreign investors could come in, and Qantas could be
:01:41. > :01:43.extremely profitable further down the track. If you look at the events
:01:44. > :01:49.of the past week or so, that record half-year loss, about 5000 jobs
:01:50. > :01:53.being lost, it certainly looks pretty grim. The Qantas management
:01:54. > :01:58.team is insisting it can turn things around, but there are many people
:01:59. > :02:05.here in Australia who fear for the future of the iconic national
:02:06. > :02:08.carrier. The airline's request for a guarantee on its debt from the
:02:09. > :02:16.government has also been turned down. Where else in whom else can
:02:17. > :02:28.Qantas turn to? -- in. That is why they have been relying on the
:02:29. > :02:33.changing of these laws. Qantas had hoped for a line of credit that
:02:34. > :02:37.would make it easier to get hold of cheaper loans, and that that would
:02:38. > :02:42.help the struggling airline. There has been an enormous debate here in
:02:43. > :02:45.Australia. Many Australians view the flying kangaroo with a great deal of
:02:46. > :02:50.fondness and a sense of sentimentality. They believe
:02:51. > :02:54.Australia should have its own airline, but many Australians view
:02:55. > :02:59.it as another business that should just stand or fall on its own
:03:00. > :03:07.merits. Which city is the most expensive and cheapest to live in?
:03:08. > :03:10.According to a report from an Economist intelligence unit, it is
:03:11. > :03:14.the one I live in, Singapore. It has taken the title of the world's most
:03:15. > :03:21.expensive city, forehead by Paris and Oslo. The cheapest city goes to
:03:22. > :03:28.Mumbai, followed by Karachi and Delhi.
:03:29. > :03:36.Singapore has been moving up the cost of living index quite quickly
:03:37. > :03:40.in the last five years. It has now taken at number one spot. A number
:03:41. > :03:45.of factors behind that, structural factors that push up prices in
:03:46. > :03:54.Singapore, so very high costs of cars, certificates of entitlement.
:03:55. > :04:01.Also, energy and water supplies are very expensive. These structural
:04:02. > :04:03.factors behind the rise. Other factors include the relative
:04:04. > :04:10.currency strength in Singapore, which makes the city more expensive
:04:11. > :04:15.in US dollar terms. Is it also about the cost of living in places that
:04:16. > :04:28.have great infrastructure and other factors? Certainly, this is one of
:04:29. > :04:35.the points. The cost pressures are reflective of success, but it does
:04:36. > :04:38.raise the question of livability. People will have to consider if they
:04:39. > :04:43.can afford to be based in Singapore or Sydney, or so on. They may start
:04:44. > :04:50.to look at other locations. Those at the bottom of the list, Mumbai,
:04:51. > :04:53.Karachi, Delhi, why? This reflect a different stage of economic
:04:54. > :05:01.development in the cities. Lower incomes, lower wage environments.
:05:02. > :05:08.There are more moderate levels of household spending. Levels of demand
:05:09. > :05:12.a much lower than you will see in the Asian cities we have been
:05:13. > :05:20.talking about. There is not the spending, and pressure on prices. As
:05:21. > :05:23.you may have heard from a previous bulletins, Russia has tightened its
:05:24. > :05:35.military control of Ukraine's crumby region, with thousands of troops. --
:05:36. > :05:40.Crimea. The US has put trade agreements on hold as a rebuke.
:05:41. > :05:42.Stock markets plunged, here is the reaction in the Asian markets.
:05:43. > :05:45.Stock markets plunged, here is the reaction in the They are fairly
:05:46. > :05:51.mixed, after the losses that we saw on Monday. That is basically as
:05:52. > :05:54.investors are considering signs of global economic recovery against the
:05:55. > :06:02.tensions in Ukraine. Michael McCarthy is the chief market
:06:03. > :06:07.strategist at CMC Markets. Investors are choosing to panic early at this
:06:08. > :06:11.stage of the crisis in Ukraine. The hardest hit is the share market. The
:06:12. > :06:20.Russian market itself was down 11%, but we saw huge falls in European
:06:21. > :06:23.markets as well. It is a natural response, given that we are seeing
:06:24. > :06:28.elevated levels of share prices around the globe at the moment.
:06:29. > :06:33.Let's take a look at this flight to safety, one of the assets being
:06:34. > :06:36.bought up is gold. You said that in Australia you have lots of resource
:06:37. > :06:42.stocks, so how will that impact them? Gold stocks yesterday were the
:06:43. > :06:45.best performing sector on the market, even with the market down
:06:46. > :06:50.more than 1%, they were in positive territory all day. The heavyweight
:06:51. > :06:54.in the sector was up by more than 5%. We are seeing good gains in
:06:55. > :06:57.further gains in trading this morning. The other sector that is
:06:58. > :07:01.performing well is the energy sector. With a number of large oil
:07:02. > :07:07.and gas companies listed here in Australia, it is those two areas
:07:08. > :07:10.that are lifting numbers. You mentioned energy, and we know that
:07:11. > :07:17.Russia is the world's second largest producer of oil. They were the top
:07:18. > :07:23.exporter of natural gas as well, so are we expecting any more spikes in
:07:24. > :07:35.oil prices? Quebec go as high as we saw in 2007 -08? -- could they. It
:07:36. > :07:40.is likely we will see higher prices over the course of this week. We
:07:41. > :07:47.sought a good list of over $2 per barrel overnight, and they were
:07:48. > :07:52.maintaining a firm number in trading this morning. The risk to that
:07:53. > :07:58.scenario is that there is a quick resolution of the Ukraine conflict.
:07:59. > :08:02.In Sri Lanka, a severe drought is affecting much of the country,
:08:03. > :08:08.meaning rice harvest is under threat, and equality of the tea
:08:09. > :08:15.crop, Sri Lanka's most important export, could be affected.
:08:16. > :08:22.These irrigation channels, vital for rice, have been dry for weeks. Any
:08:23. > :08:26.paddy fields have been left fallow. The crops depend on one short
:08:27. > :08:31.monsoon, and it just didn't happen. You should be a reservoir, three
:08:32. > :08:35.metres deep and capable of irrigating for 40 farmers. The
:08:36. > :08:40.failure of the range from October to December mean that only seven of the
:08:41. > :08:46.40 farmers felt able to plant anything, and only two of them are
:08:47. > :08:49.likely to get any paddy at all. Farmers have tried to channel the
:08:50. > :08:54.scarce water into pools, but it has been almost useless. This man
:08:55. > :08:59.planted four acres, and all was lost. These may look green, but
:09:00. > :09:10.there is no grain, just husks. TRANSLATION: We have borrowed from
:09:11. > :09:14.banks. We have lost our livelihoods. Because of the drought, we can't
:09:15. > :09:18.find labouring work. This man is tending his seedlings. These are
:09:19. > :09:23.watermelons. He gives them a little water from a makeshift dam, but this
:09:24. > :09:29.is an emergency crop. He has fallen back on it, because thanks to the
:09:30. > :09:32.drought he can no longer grow rice. Three quarters of the Mellon
:09:33. > :09:37.seedlings have died as well. TRANSLATION: We just can't plan for
:09:38. > :09:43.the future because rain is so unpredictable. It is the same story
:09:44. > :09:52.in the upland key country. This tea is dead. Workers have become water
:09:53. > :09:57.is, a highly unusual move. The owner says it is the worst drought since
:09:58. > :10:05.1993. Two thirds of our crop has come down very badly, and we used to
:10:06. > :10:12.bring 35 or 40 kilos per day, it has come down to 12 or 13 kilos. The
:10:13. > :10:16.plants are wilting. Sri Lanka is the fourth largest producer of tea. The
:10:17. > :10:24.blood praying for rain in the few weeks time. While in the drylands,
:10:25. > :10:29.even the wildlife is nothing to it. That brings us to an end to this
:10:30. > :10:34.edition of Asia Business Report. In Q4 watching. -- thank you for
:10:35. > :10:36.watching.