:00:00. > :00:17.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:18. > :00:28.Australia logs a decade of Budget deficits, putting its AAA credit
:00:29. > :00:33.rating at risk. Soars to an all-time high, adding $1 million to its
:00:34. > :00:43.market value -- Bitcoin soars to an all-time high. It is Wednesday. Glad
:00:44. > :00:47.you could join us for this midweek edition of Asia Business Report. I
:00:48. > :00:53.am Rico Hizon. Australia's Budget is expected to be in the red until at
:00:54. > :00:57.least 2021, and markets are down. As you can take a look at the market
:00:58. > :01:02.boards, the ASX 200 has fallen nearly one third of a percent in
:01:03. > :01:04.early trade. Late on Tuesday the government announced a huge
:01:05. > :01:10.infrastructure spending plan worth $55 million -- $55 billion and the
:01:11. > :01:14.stimulus is expected to create thousands of jobs across the country
:01:15. > :01:18.but will also lead to a wider than expected deficit of $22 billion for
:01:19. > :01:28.the current fiscal year. Earlier I spoke to the realm -- earlier I
:01:29. > :01:32.spoke to Cherelle Murphy from ANZ bank. We are likely to get a few
:01:33. > :01:36.more deficits from here on in. We were heavily impacted by the global
:01:37. > :01:40.financial crisis, and we are really just still recovering from that.
:01:41. > :01:46.There has been certainly a lot of changes in taxes, particular at the
:01:47. > :01:49.household level, and new spending measures which were put in when
:01:50. > :01:53.times were good and of course now that times are a little bit tougher,
:01:54. > :01:57.and particularly with commodity prices having come off their highs
:01:58. > :02:01.from 2011, it has been harder and harder for the government to get
:02:02. > :02:06.revenue back up to where it used to be ten years ago. And with more
:02:07. > :02:11.deficits to come, Cherelle, is Australia's AAA rating at risk?
:02:12. > :02:14.Look, I think the credit rating agencies will not he urgently moving
:02:15. > :02:19.to move our credit rating. I wouldn't say that the issue has been
:02:20. > :02:23.put to bed though, either. There are certainly some things in the Budget
:02:24. > :02:26.that would comfort the credit rating agencies, the fact that the
:02:27. > :02:29.government removed the so-called zombie measures, measures from
:02:30. > :02:32.previous budgets which were never realistically going to get through
:02:33. > :02:36.the Parliament. The government removed all of them, it was a cost
:02:37. > :02:40.of $13 billion to do so. Credit rating agencies didn't like that.
:02:41. > :02:43.Also the new policy is that the government has brought in are
:02:44. > :02:49.arguably more likely to pass the Parliament so the Budget looks more
:02:50. > :02:54.credible. Also, of course, there is a return to surplus projected by the
:02:55. > :02:58.end of the forward estimates, so by 2019/2020, sorry, I 2020 one. And
:02:59. > :03:06.what that means is of course that there is a recovery plant through
:03:07. > :03:09.both revenues and expenditure. Now, a lot of analysts, including
:03:10. > :03:12.yourself, have criticised the government in the past for being a
:03:13. > :03:16.little bit too optimistic about that. But you would have to say that
:03:17. > :03:21.now, compared to more recent years, we do have a more likely outcome of
:03:22. > :03:26.surpluses, given the economy is starting to pick up. And Miss Murphy
:03:27. > :03:30.referred to comment on the Australian government's new bank
:03:31. > :03:36.tax. Treasurer Scott Morrison hopes to raise $4.6 billion from the levy
:03:37. > :03:40.from the balance sheets of the country's five largest banks. It is
:03:41. > :03:44.estimated it will add 10% to their liabilities. The Australian bankers
:03:45. > :03:51.Association slammed the move move, saying it is a direct attack on jobs
:03:52. > :03:56.and growth. In business news making headlines, shares in Rupert
:03:57. > :04:01.Murdoch's news Corp rising 2% after its earnings beat forecast, much of
:04:02. > :04:05.the growth coming from the expansion of its real estate website which had
:04:06. > :04:10.a big increase in traffic. As well as profits and revenue. Shares in
:04:11. > :04:13.Walt Disney falling nearly 2% after its revenues missed market
:04:14. > :04:19.expectations, coming in slightly under forecast at $13.3 billion.
:04:20. > :04:23.Disney's boss says there has been significant growth in subscribers to
:04:24. > :04:32.digital services, but not enough to make up for losses. Bitcoin surged
:04:33. > :04:38.above $1700 for the first time ever. In the last 24 hours alone its
:04:39. > :04:42.market cap has risen by more than $1 billion, according to an industry
:04:43. > :04:46.website. But in India, where there have been complaints that virtual
:04:47. > :04:49.currencies are being used for money-laundering, the government has
:04:50. > :04:53.been pressured into figuring out how to manage them. Will regulation
:04:54. > :04:59.help? Our correspondent spoke to Michelle Gupta, part of a foundation
:05:00. > :05:07.to monitor transparency in India's market. The Bitcoin market has been
:05:08. > :05:11.growing at 100% per annum. It is a million-dollar company within the
:05:12. > :05:16.foundation. In India, the growth has been phenomenal. And I think there
:05:17. > :05:20.is a lot of attention within the media in the country and it has led
:05:21. > :05:25.to the government paying attention to it. But if you look at the
:05:26. > :05:30.comments from the Indian government, they are really concerned about
:05:31. > :05:35.Bitcoin. The Finance Minister has said that people should be cautious,
:05:36. > :05:39.they shouldn't deal in Bitcoin. You have a Member of Parliament who has
:05:40. > :05:46.called it a 'Ponzi' scheme, a pyramid 'Ponzi' scheme. The central
:05:47. > :05:50.bank has warned investors, so clearly there are consequences. The
:05:51. > :05:55.volatility involved, they will make an informed choice in terms of
:05:56. > :05:58.making investment in Bitcoin or other crypto currencies. And as far
:05:59. > :06:03.as people calling it a 'Ponzi' scheme, there have been some
:06:04. > :06:07.instances in India where certain pyramid scheme companies have turned
:06:08. > :06:15.up across India, and that is probably creating emotion, and the
:06:16. > :06:20.popularity of Bitcoin means they have nothing to do with Bitcoin, and
:06:21. > :06:24.they offer unrealistic returns to investors. I think it is fair for
:06:25. > :06:30.the government to warn the general public that they need to be aware.
:06:31. > :06:37.And people need to be more aware and understanding of how Bitcoin works.
:06:38. > :06:45.So what are the benefits of Bitcoins? What are the advantages if
:06:46. > :06:49.they legalise? I think Bitcoin has advantages in India. Creating a bank
:06:50. > :06:54.account is still not easy, and we are seeing this penetration of
:06:55. > :06:57.mobile technology and systems like Bitcoin make it cost-effective for
:06:58. > :07:02.people who come into the financial inclusion system, and there are real
:07:03. > :07:06.implications for that. The second part of it is value transfer. There
:07:07. > :07:11.are billions of dollars which come in, and the costs are really high.
:07:12. > :07:15.If the governments and banks would Hamas the power of technology and
:07:16. > :07:31.instruments like Bitcoin, that could really bring down the costs -- would
:07:32. > :07:35.harness the power. The problem the US economy has with migrant workers
:07:36. > :07:39.is that it needs more of them. Agriculture and tourism is feel it
:07:40. > :07:44.particularly badly. Our correspondent reports from a farm in
:07:45. > :07:49.New Jersey. Farmer Kurt Dawson get to spend as much time in the field
:07:50. > :07:54.as he used to, or as he would like. He is a first-generation farmer. For
:07:55. > :08:02.him, agriculture was a calling, to do God's work. As we to his 600 acre
:08:03. > :08:07.property, he admits his business would not be thriving without
:08:08. > :08:11.outside help. Agriculture as we know it would not be able to survive if
:08:12. > :08:17.the people who were working today as undocumented workers were not in the
:08:18. > :08:22.workforce. During peak season, Farmer Kurt has more than 200 people
:08:23. > :08:29.working for him. 50 are here on temporary visas, like Ivan. He
:08:30. > :08:34.leaves his wife and two daughter 's Arica eight months of the year and
:08:35. > :08:46.has been doing so for the last six six years. -- in Costa Rica. You
:08:47. > :08:50.can't find sufficient Labour, and you don't know from year-to-year if
:08:51. > :08:53.you are going to be able to find the workers legally. So you wonder why
:08:54. > :08:57.people turn to doing things under the table, and why they turned to an
:08:58. > :09:01.undocumented worker. Because we don't even have the resources in
:09:02. > :09:07.place to allow legitimate employers the legal means to hire people
:09:08. > :09:10.properly. This farm depends on guest workers, but the application process
:09:11. > :09:16.for temporary visas is expensive and cumbersome. Farmer Kurt needs more
:09:17. > :09:23.workers, and needs them faster, and it would seem, so does the US
:09:24. > :09:27.economy. We have very close to full employment. That is great, and it is
:09:28. > :09:31.good for... We want wages to grow up, and we wanted to a tight Labour
:09:32. > :09:35.market we want the economy to expand beyond the current Labour force, so
:09:36. > :09:39.I think you do need immigrants to come in and help that to expand. I
:09:40. > :09:43.think that is a good thing. The rhetoric surrounding immigration has
:09:44. > :09:48.become harsher and focused on more and more constraint. But the fact is
:09:49. > :09:51.that a huge number of American businesses in different industries
:09:52. > :09:56.are dependent on the Labour of overseas workers. And what these
:09:57. > :10:05.businesses want is for the President and for Congress to focus on the
:10:06. > :10:09.reality. Let's have a look at the markets, and Asia is currently mixed
:10:10. > :10:15.in early morning trade, due to revive the worries about North Korea
:10:16. > :10:19.and the lacklustre mood on Wall Street overnight. Tokyo's stocks
:10:20. > :10:25.opening higher as the yen remains weak on expectations for global
:10:26. > :10:30.recovery growing. Expectations are down due to lower oil prices. Thank
:10:31. > :10:34.you for investing your time with us. Have a wonderful Wednesday,
:10:35. > :10:36.everyone. I am Rico Hizon. Goodbye for now.
:10:37. > :10:41.You are watching BBC News, I'm Greg Dawson.
:10:42. > :10:44.The top stories this hour: US President Donald Trump has