:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:16. > :00:23.The Indian economy is growing, but by how much? Recent changes, like a
:00:24. > :00:29.new goods and services tax, have kept people guessing. And Donald
:00:30. > :00:36.Trump snakes a pitch to clean up the tax code in America. -- makes a. It
:00:37. > :00:38.costs Americans millions and millions and millions of jobs and is
:00:39. > :00:45.self-destructive, trillions of dollars. Good morning, Asia. Hello,
:00:46. > :00:49.world. Welcome to another edition of Asia Business Report. I am Sharanjit
:00:50. > :00:55.Leyl. Thank you for joining us. Today, India releases growth figures
:00:56. > :01:02.for the three months until June. They they implemented a new goods
:01:03. > :01:05.and services tax which promises to boost production, but has trouble
:01:06. > :01:09.getting off the ground to be that is after the controversial move last
:01:10. > :01:13.year to remove high-value banknotes from circulation. How was that
:01:14. > :01:20.affecting growth in India? We have this report. After months of almost
:01:21. > :01:25.no work, things are starting to get a little bit busier. This factory
:01:26. > :01:31.makes machines for various industries ranging from hospitals to
:01:32. > :01:37.firms. But the company has been struggling to make profits for the
:01:38. > :01:41.last three years. It became worse when the government banned nearly
:01:42. > :01:45.90% of the cash in circulation last November in an effort to crack down
:01:46. > :01:52.on corruption. TRANSLATION: After the cash ban, most industries cut
:01:53. > :01:58.down production. They were all very worried. We were hardly getting any
:01:59. > :02:04.orders. Sales, which were already low, went down further by 50%. It
:02:05. > :02:07.had a huge impact on India's economy, especially the small to
:02:08. > :02:14.medium-sized businesses like this one. Just when factories started to
:02:15. > :02:18.recover, another setback. In July, a goods and services tax was
:02:19. > :02:21.introduced by the government are completely reformed the way
:02:22. > :02:28.businesses paid tax. The government says the tax overhaul will increase
:02:29. > :02:35.growth. But initial teething problems and the cash ban have
:02:36. > :02:38.stopped consumer demand. In June, production fell to levels not seen
:02:39. > :02:44.in nine years. The World Bank says India's economy will recover and
:02:45. > :02:48.grow by more than 7% in this financial year. But economists say
:02:49. > :02:54.more needs to be done for that to happen. It has the potential to grow
:02:55. > :02:58.at 7.5 - 8%. That that has the potential. However, the real growth
:02:59. > :03:01.engine has to come from private investment, consumption, and
:03:02. > :03:05.exports. We cannot depend on government funded infrastructure to
:03:06. > :03:15.actually be the stimulus for over. The revival of the sector will be
:03:16. > :03:19.important to that engine. It has a big role to play in the third
:03:20. > :03:26.largest economy to fully realise economic potential. BBC News. It is
:03:27. > :03:34.burning season for corporate China and the bank of China is reporting
:03:35. > :03:42.an 11.5% jump to more than $50 billion. -- earning. The fourth
:03:43. > :03:46.biggest lender reported a decline. Overall, the financial sector on the
:03:47. > :03:51.mainland appears to be healthy with lower bad loans. Regulators have
:03:52. > :03:54.been raising efforts to stop the shadow banking system which has over
:03:55. > :03:59.populated nontraditional bank lenders. I spoke to someone to ask
:04:00. > :04:04.if the crackdown is having an impact. Overall profitability for
:04:05. > :04:09.Chinese banks is actually quite healthy. What remains a concern is
:04:10. > :04:13.the net interest income has been deteriorating over the past two
:04:14. > :04:18.years. This is no fault of their own. What is happening is these are
:04:19. > :04:22.macro factors. The property market has been coming off and China is
:04:23. > :04:27.slowing down the pit is not all doom and gloom. The Chinese banks have
:04:28. > :04:33.been wise and are moving away from interest income -based to a
:04:34. > :04:36.fee-based approach. We can see they are currently investing in many new
:04:37. > :04:45.business opportunities like dobbing investment banking, syndicated loan
:04:46. > :04:49.desks, and trading. -- propping up. We have seen them invest in other
:04:50. > :04:55.parts of the region besides their own, which is Southeast Asia. I
:04:56. > :05:01.would say in the long-run, Chinese banks are OK. For many years we have
:05:02. > :05:07.reported on shadow banking. That is a real concern. That is right. The
:05:08. > :05:11.origins of shadow banking go back to the Chinese banks themselves. They
:05:12. > :05:14.have traditionally been very conservative with credit policy.
:05:15. > :05:22.They have really preferred reaching out to a client segment that were
:05:23. > :05:27.persistent clients or had credit history. As a result of this, large
:05:28. > :05:33.segments in China have been sort of left out because banks would not
:05:34. > :05:43.look at them. Absolutely. What is interesting is recent innovations
:05:44. > :05:49.have brought P2P and on line lending companies to these. There have been
:05:50. > :06:03.many innovative solutions up Illias Fifa be subsidies of Alibaba for
:06:04. > :06:14.example. -- solutions. There are new ways to do this. Even if banks don't
:06:15. > :06:18.want to touch someone without credit history, these P2P lenders have
:06:19. > :06:27.their own models, with social media and data and on line platforms.
:06:28. > :06:35.Uber's new CEO says he wants to take the company public as soon as 2019.
:06:36. > :06:38.The former head of Expedia met his employees for the first time on
:06:39. > :06:49.Thursday. He said an initial IPO would take place in 36 months. He
:06:50. > :06:54.also said he would stem the financial losses of $3 billion. We
:06:55. > :07:00.will speak to a reporter now. Is that likely? This is still a
:07:01. > :07:06.tentative timeframe. Investors are excited for when it happens. Uber is
:07:07. > :07:12.the world's most valuable technology company, worth $70 billion. It is
:07:13. > :07:19.also the biggest loss making private company currently. It is expanding
:07:20. > :07:23.so rapidly and is bleeding cash. Ever since 2009 when it was launched
:07:24. > :07:28.it has failed to make money. That is top of the agenda for the CEO.
:07:29. > :07:32.Before taking a public he needs to narrow losses even more and make it
:07:33. > :07:38.profitable. He might be able to do this. He was at Expedia for 12 years
:07:39. > :07:42.and managed to expand it to 60 countries and made it highly
:07:43. > :07:48.profitable as well applied aside from the financial problems of Uber,
:07:49. > :07:54.it also has a toxic work environment. Exactly. That is why
:07:55. > :08:00.there is a large timeframe to be 18- 36 months. It gives him leeway to
:08:01. > :08:05.fix these problems. Finances, you mentioned the toxic workplace. It is
:08:06. > :08:12.a cultural problem he said he would fix. Discrimination, racism, sexual
:08:13. > :08:18.harassment. Uber is also involved in legal issues with Google and
:08:19. > :08:23.self-driving cars. They are also being investigated by US authorities
:08:24. > :08:28.regarding foreign bribery. There is a lot to sort out. It is his first
:08:29. > :08:35.week. He has a lot to do. A tough week ahead. 30 years since the
:08:36. > :08:38.world's biggest economy reformed its tax code. Overnight, Donald Trump
:08:39. > :08:44.launched his push for tax reform during a speech in the US State of
:08:45. > :08:48.Missouri. He said he wanted to create jobs with higher wages for
:08:49. > :08:53.Americans, but he lacks details. Congress had to do much of the
:08:54. > :08:57.heavylifting. We have this report. The stock market is up. The
:08:58. > :09:04.unemployment rate is at an all-time low. If you listen to Donald Trump,
:09:05. > :09:08.he says the system is rigged. In a speech to introduce tax reform, the
:09:09. > :09:12.US president told the crowd that the tax system of the country was
:09:13. > :09:18.broken. His sale pitch, light on details, focused on how it would
:09:19. > :09:22.benefit the middle-class. Our self-destructive tax code costs
:09:23. > :09:27.American millions and millions of jobs, trillions of dollars, and
:09:28. > :09:31.billions of hours spent on compliance and paperwork. One
:09:32. > :09:36.proposal he has been pushing is cutting the nation's 35% corporate
:09:37. > :09:43.tax rate to 15%. Those in favour say it would encourage countries to stay
:09:44. > :09:47.in the US and create jobs. But not so fast. Budget experts say it could
:09:48. > :09:51.cost the government $2 trillion. Critics say there is no new evidence
:09:52. > :09:56.companies saving more on tax will expand their workforce. Plus, it is
:09:57. > :10:00.so full of loopholes most firms already pay less. There is
:10:01. > :10:05.bipartisan support to simplify the tax code of America. But given the
:10:06. > :10:08.potential impact on workers and businesses in the deficit of the
:10:09. > :10:13.country, modernising the rules will be a tall order to be Michelle
:10:14. > :10:25.Fleury with that report. The markets that just opened in Asia. Gains for
:10:26. > :10:29.the Nikkei. The All Ordinaries in Australia as well. They are taking
:10:30. > :10:39.cues from Wall Street. Rosy numbers in the US. They have been advised up
:10:40. > :10:40.to 3% annual growth in the second quarter. And that is it for this