:00:19. > :00:24.he joined in 2008. Welcome to World Business Report.
:00:24. > :00:31.Europe's worsening crisis threatens to block Island's road to recovery.
:00:31. > :00:37.The EU and the IMF has a report. -- Island.
:00:37. > :00:40.Asian stock markets rise as the IMF seeks to boost its firepower to
:00:40. > :00:47.tackle the eurozone debt crisis. Which countries will contribute to
:00:47. > :00:56.the war chest? A tough course before Microsoft and
:00:56. > :01:02.Intel, coming to terms with the death of the PC. -- quarter.
:01:02. > :01:07.Good to have you with us. The EU, the European Central Bank and the
:01:07. > :01:12.IMF give their verdicts on how Ireland is handling its economic
:01:13. > :01:17.growth. Dublin was forced to cede as a bail-out to save it from
:01:17. > :01:24.financial collapse. In return, lenders demanded harsh austerity
:01:24. > :01:29.measures. Since then Ireland has made the best recovery of all the
:01:29. > :01:33.countries that seeds a bail-out. But the worsening situation in the
:01:33. > :01:38.eurozone threatens to plunge the country back into a crisis.
:01:38. > :01:44.Of all the countries that took a bailout, Ireland has the healthiest
:01:44. > :01:48.economy. After cuts in public sector pay and hiking taxes, the
:01:48. > :01:51.government has done the most to force and the deficit. The
:01:51. > :01:57.demonstrations have been peaceful compared to those in southern
:01:58. > :02:07.Europe. However, an economic recovery has stalled. GDP has
:02:08. > :02:08.
:02:08. > :02:15.started shrinking again because of wheat export markets in the rest of
:02:15. > :02:19.Europe. Portugal is being asked to rewire itself. The problem is
:02:19. > :02:24.Ireland is dependent on its export sector and the demand, something it
:02:24. > :02:34.cannot control. It is being suggested Ireland borrow more to
:02:34. > :02:35.
:02:35. > :02:45.tie itself over. It could sell bonds on the open market. It is
:02:45. > :02:50.
:02:50. > :02:54.having to pay euros euros billions of euros to shore up its banks.
:02:54. > :03:01.rest of the economy cannot recover. Banks are not lending because they
:03:01. > :03:07.cannot land. They do not have the ability. The only way to get the
:03:07. > :03:13.economy to go is to get medium-size businesses to employ people. There
:03:13. > :03:23.is also a worry about the banks stress test. They are so weak they
:03:23. > :03:29.
:03:29. > :03:36.could fail. The Irish economy News that the IMF is looking to
:03:36. > :03:44.police its firepower has given the markets in Asia a boost. -- to
:03:44. > :03:49.boost. What has been going on? you take a look at the numbers
:03:49. > :03:55.today for both the stock and currency markets, regional share
:03:55. > :04:00.prices are currently in positive territory. They are as a two-month
:04:00. > :04:07.high. The IMF was seeking to boost its resources to tackle this
:04:08. > :04:12.ongoing debt crisis. Improving economic data from the US with
:04:12. > :04:22.surprisingly strong housing figures is also helping. Investors are
:04:22. > :04:26.becoming more comfortable with taking on risks. There is a warning
:04:26. > :04:31.from the World Bank about a possible slump in growth. There is
:04:31. > :04:36.evidence about markets becoming resilient to all of this bad news.
:04:36. > :04:41.The question is where will the money come from? The US has shown
:04:41. > :04:51.its reluctant to add to the IMF pot. There is talk about China putting
:04:51. > :04:52.
:04:52. > :04:59.in? That is right. The US and Canada save Europe must put up more
:04:59. > :05:04.of its own money to solve the sovereign debt crisis. The emerging
:05:04. > :05:09.economies, such as China and Brazil, are willing to continue new
:05:09. > :05:14.resources. That is in exchange for greater voting power. Both
:05:14. > :05:20.countries already have said their power should be increased to
:05:20. > :05:25.reflect their growing clouds in the world economy. For Japan and South
:05:25. > :05:31.Korea, they want to know first what will be the contribution from
:05:31. > :05:35.Europe before agreeing to additional measures. Thank you.
:05:35. > :05:43.It is a major day for the technology sector with quarterly
:05:43. > :05:48.results in the US from the top chip maker, Intel, and Microsoft. But
:05:48. > :05:54.there are now facing a huge shift in the industry. Smartphones and
:05:54. > :06:00.tablets are pursuing sales of PCs under pressure. -- are put in.
:06:00. > :06:05.As case shift, the dominant personal computer is struggling. --
:06:05. > :06:13.taste. More of us are using smartphones and tablas to do the
:06:14. > :06:17.kind of stuff we used to rely on a PC to do. Flooding in Thailand has
:06:17. > :06:24.resulted in a 6% drop in the US PC shipments during the crucial
:06:24. > :06:32.holiday season. For Intel and Microsoft, that does not bode well
:06:32. > :06:42.for profits. You need to give consumers a reason to buy. If you
:06:42. > :06:43.
:06:43. > :06:52.look at the buying cycle, it is new every two years. At the consumer
:06:53. > :06:58.show in Las Vegas, Intel did its best to sends -- to tempt consumers.
:06:58. > :07:02.Microsoft is also counting on its new operating system to tie
:07:02. > :07:11.together its traditional market with the ongoing shift to tablets
:07:11. > :07:17.and ferns. Neither of these will help the earnings in this quarter.
:07:17. > :07:26.Investors and analysts will have to wait a bit. All the top will be
:07:26. > :07:32.about what will be coming out in the 4th quarter. -- talk. Profits
:07:32. > :07:35.at Intel and Microsoft may have been weaker at the end of last year
:07:35. > :07:41.but they also offer clues about the series of the industry going
:07:42. > :07:49.forward. -- state. Also, investors will be hearing
:07:49. > :07:55.from Google. Its quarterly results are due. Its advertising revenue is
:07:55. > :07:59.at an all-time high. Optimism has been growing over its performance.
:08:00. > :08:09.The Christmas season saw more consumer spending transfer to the
:08:10. > :08:14.
:08:14. > :08:18.internet. EBay celebrated a fourth quarter
:08:19. > :08:23.with a sharp increase in profits. There was strong trading in the
:08:23. > :08:29.run-up to Christmas. It also gave a stronger than expected outlook for
:08:29. > :08:37.this year. Shares in the company were climbing in the US.
:08:37. > :08:46.US prosecutors have charged hedge- fund investors with running up a
:08:46. > :08:50.trading scheme. They are accused of trading on inside information
:08:50. > :08:55.gained from an employee of a PC maker ahead of its quarterly
:08:56. > :09:02.earnings. In the markets, the IMF is looking
:09:02. > :09:11.to boost its coffers, did boosted investor sentiment. The other story
:09:11. > :09:16.that helped the market is the news that the Chinese authorities are
:09:16. > :09:21.looking to make it easier for Chinese banks to lend more and to
:09:21. > :09:28.boost domestic spending and demands. That has helped since men in Asia
:09:28. > :09:32.as well. You can see how the euros have been trading. They will start