14/06/2011

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:00:06. > :00:16.Those are the latest headlines. Now for the latest financial news, the

:00:16. > :00:17.

:00:17. > :00:23.World Business Report is next. You are with World Business Report.

:00:23. > :00:31.Our headlines: Rising prices as Britain's does -- Britain discovers

:00:31. > :00:36.a weak economic growth. China's inflation dilemma as Consumer Price

:00:36. > :00:42.Index reaches its highest level in three years. Is it time for the

:00:42. > :00:48.central bank to act? And in Japan, the price of Tokyo Electric Power

:00:48. > :00:58.stores after the government approves the compensation of people

:00:58. > :00:58.

:00:58. > :01:01.affected by the nuclear crisis. When to act on inflation? That is

:01:01. > :01:06.the problem facing the world central banks who have to control

:01:06. > :01:10.price rises without taking the wind out of their fragile economic

:01:10. > :01:17.recovery. The dilemma is back in focus this week with several major

:01:17. > :01:24.inflation data. The UK is expected to confirm its Consumer Price Index

:01:24. > :01:28.blue above the target for the 18th straight month in May.

:01:28. > :01:34.Britain's cost of living is going up. It is rising faster than in

:01:34. > :01:40.most other developed economies. The main measure of inflation, the

:01:40. > :01:45.Consumer Price Index, stood at 4.5% in April, its highest in two-and-a-

:01:45. > :01:51.half years. Compare that to the neighbouring eurozone, where CPI it

:01:51. > :01:59.was significantly lower at 2.8%. And in the US, prices are also

:01:59. > :02:04.rising slowly. The same a month's figure was 3.2%. Even allowing for

:02:04. > :02:11.slight differences in the way CPI is calculated, inflation is clearly

:02:11. > :02:14.higher in the UK. But why? The Bank of England Express has three key

:02:14. > :02:20.factors that have been driving inflation. One is commodity price

:02:20. > :02:27.rises which all countries have been faced with. The UK has also been

:02:27. > :02:31.specifically problems by the rise in VAT. And also the weakness of

:02:31. > :02:35.the British pound which has fallen by almost 30% against many

:02:35. > :02:41.currencies. That means the price of imported goods and services has

:02:41. > :02:46.gone up by almost 30%. So tax hikes and a weak currency are driving up

:02:46. > :02:56.inflation in Britain, on top of the food and oil price increases faced

:02:56. > :02:57.

:02:57. > :03:03.by the whole world. That has been felt in people's pockets. It is

:03:03. > :03:07.enormous. I have noticed the cost of petrol and gas and electric rise

:03:07. > :03:11.cutely. The Bank of England does care about rising prices, that is

:03:11. > :03:16.its job. But it is more concerned about the fragile economic growth.

:03:16. > :03:22.So interest rates are likely to stay low. For now, at least, until

:03:22. > :03:26.there is an indication the economy isn't a sounder footing.

:03:26. > :03:32.The UK is not alone. China has had its inflation data out and we will

:03:32. > :03:36.look at that later. First, shares in Japan's energy company Tepco

:03:36. > :03:40.have been soaring today following a torrid few months for the operator

:03:41. > :03:44.of the tsunami hit Fukushima plant. It follows news that Japanese

:03:44. > :03:54.government has approved a law to help Tepco compensate victims of

:03:54. > :03:56.

:03:56. > :04:04.the disaster. Lovely to see you. What is going on? Welcome back.

:04:04. > :04:11.Thank you. What is going on? Some good news. Finally, Tepco has its

:04:11. > :04:15.currency each soaring -- currency soaring, it jumped as much as 18%

:04:15. > :04:18.after the government approved a scheme to help compensate people

:04:18. > :04:24.affected by the nuclear crisis. The governed initiative calls for this

:04:24. > :04:29.new body to be set up to help the compensation to residents who were

:04:29. > :04:34.forced to evacuate their homes around the facility. Under the plan,

:04:34. > :04:38.Tepco will have to pay back all funds it receives from the

:04:38. > :04:43.organisation out of future profits and will sell assets and implement

:04:43. > :04:50.tough cost-cutting measures. Analysts say this of will result in

:04:50. > :04:56.higher power rates. Tepco and other companies are likely to bump up

:04:56. > :05:05.costs being -- charges. They are expected to reach several trillion

:05:05. > :05:10.yen. Despite all of this enthusiasm, the trade minister says this has

:05:10. > :05:14.not been sealed and delivered. The bill still needs to be passed by

:05:15. > :05:18.Parliament. The current parliamentary session is scheduled

:05:18. > :05:23.end on 22nd June but is expected to be extended to discuss a

:05:23. > :05:31.supplementary budget programme. They are hoping this Bill will be

:05:32. > :05:33.passed and signed by the end of the June - up by the end of June.

:05:33. > :05:40.you. The International Monetary Fund has

:05:40. > :05:44.announced its official shortlist of two candidates to take over. First

:05:44. > :05:50.is Christine Lagarde. Her rival is the head of Mexico's central bank,

:05:50. > :06:00.or Agustin Carstens. The surprise applicant, Stanley Fisher, will not

:06:00. > :06:13.

:06:13. > :06:17.be considered. He is 67 and they rule a -- he used not suitable.

:06:17. > :06:21.Sales have gained consoles and the video games are fell last month to

:06:21. > :06:24.their lowest level in nearly five years. The data was compiled by a

:06:24. > :06:34.group who say this is partly because fewer games were released

:06:34. > :06:34.

:06:34. > :06:40.and gamers could be diverting their cash to more online contact.

:06:40. > :06:45.Fiat has taken a stake in Chrysler to more than 50%. Will it buy up

:06:45. > :06:49.the rest? Can have the company swallow a rival? It makes as many

:06:49. > :06:56.cars in America as it does in the rest of the world. We have this

:06:56. > :07:01.report from Rome. The chief executive of the company gave a

:07:01. > :07:11.rare interview about his intentions for Chrysler. That is an open issue.

:07:11. > :07:22.

:07:22. > :07:25.The only objective is to find the requirements of fear at first. All

:07:25. > :07:35.options are on the table. But the ad will still be controlled from

:07:35. > :07:37.

:07:37. > :07:47.Italy? -- Fiat. Three I have no intentions of moving the

:07:47. > :07:47.

:07:48. > :07:57.headquarters. We need to find a solution to corporate governance.

:07:58. > :08:11.

:08:11. > :08:15.It is a larger car maker. They make many more cars than us. It is an

:08:15. > :08:20.interesting dilemma. We will know how to deal with it in the right

:08:20. > :08:24.time. The important thing to focus on is making money. Do you think

:08:24. > :08:34.Americans want to buy a small cars? Americans want to buy fuel

:08:34. > :08:37.

:08:37. > :08:43.efficient cars. If you spend enough time understanding the work we've

:08:43. > :08:48.done and other competitors as well in improving efficiency.

:08:48. > :08:54.That was the head of Fiat. As promised, more on Chinese inflation.

:08:54. > :08:58.It has picked up pace. It is the world's second largest economy and

:08:58. > :09:04.may need to raise interest rates again to further slowdown this

:09:04. > :09:08.trend. New figures from the CBI say inflation figures rose by 5.5%.

:09:08. > :09:15.When taking a look at a look at ned in the factories, today's

:09:15. > :09:20.industrial output figures show growth at 13.3 %. It has now slowed

:09:20. > :09:26.for three months in a row. Let's quickly flagged up the other

:09:26. > :09:30.inflation data. India have's headline rate continues to soar.

:09:30. > :09:36.Economists forecast a small rise today so keep an eye on India. On