19/01/2012 World Business Report

he joined in 2008. Welcome to World Business Report.

Europe's worsening crisis threatens to block Island's road to recovery.

The EU and the IMF has a report. -- Island.

Asian stock markets rise as the IMF seeks to boost its firepower to

tackle the eurozone debt crisis. Which countries will contribute to

the war chest? A tough course before Microsoft and

Intel, coming to terms with the death of the PC. -- quarter.

Good to have you with us. The EU, the European Central Bank and the

IMF give their verdicts on how Ireland is handling its economic

growth. Dublin was forced to cede as a bail-out to save it from

financial collapse. In return, lenders demanded harsh austerity

measures. Since then Ireland has made the best recovery of all the

countries that seeds a bail-out. But the worsening situation in the

eurozone threatens to plunge the country back into a crisis.

Of all the countries that took a bailout, Ireland has the healthiest

economy. After cuts in public sector pay and hiking taxes, the

government has done the most to force and the deficit. The

demonstrations have been peaceful compared to those in southern

Europe. However, an economic recovery has stalled. GDP has

started shrinking again because of wheat export markets in the rest of

Europe. Portugal is being asked to rewire itself. The problem is

Ireland is dependent on its export sector and the demand, something it

cannot control. It is being suggested Ireland borrow more to

tie itself over. It could sell bonds on the open market. It is

having to pay euros euros billions of euros to shore up its banks.

rest of the economy cannot recover. Banks are not lending because they

cannot land. They do not have the ability. The only way to get the

economy to go is to get medium-size businesses to employ people. There

is also a worry about the banks stress test. They are so weak they

could fail. The Irish economy News that the IMF is looking to

police its firepower has given the markets in Asia a boost. -- to

boost. What has been going on? you take a look at the numbers

today for both the stock and currency markets, regional share

prices are currently in positive territory. They are as a two-month

high. The IMF was seeking to boost its resources to tackle this

ongoing debt crisis. Improving economic data from the US with

surprisingly strong housing figures is also helping. Investors are

becoming more comfortable with taking on risks. There is a warning

from the World Bank about a possible slump in growth. There is

evidence about markets becoming resilient to all of this bad news.

The question is where will the money come from? The US has shown

its reluctant to add to the IMF pot. There is talk about China putting

in? That is right. The US and Canada save Europe must put up more

of its own money to solve the sovereign debt crisis. The emerging

economies, such as China and Brazil, are willing to continue new

resources. That is in exchange for greater voting power. Both

countries already have said their power should be increased to

reflect their growing clouds in the world economy. For Japan and South

Korea, they want to know first what will be the contribution from

Europe before agreeing to additional measures. Thank you.

It is a major day for the technology sector with quarterly

results in the US from the top chip maker, Intel, and Microsoft. But

there are now facing a huge shift in the industry. Smartphones and

tablets are pursuing sales of PCs under pressure. -- are put in.

As case shift, the dominant personal computer is struggling. --

taste. More of us are using smartphones and tablas to do the

kind of stuff we used to rely on a PC to do. Flooding in Thailand has

resulted in a 6% drop in the US PC shipments during the crucial

holiday season. For Intel and Microsoft, that does not bode well

for profits. You need to give consumers a reason to buy. If you

look at the buying cycle, it is new every two years. At the consumer

show in Las Vegas, Intel did its best to sends -- to tempt consumers.

Microsoft is also counting on its new operating system to tie

together its traditional market with the ongoing shift to tablets

and ferns. Neither of these will help the earnings in this quarter.

Investors and analysts will have to wait a bit. All the top will be

about what will be coming out in the 4th quarter. -- talk. Profits

at Intel and Microsoft may have been weaker at the end of last year

but they also offer clues about the series of the industry going

forward. -- state. Also, investors will be hearing

from Google. Its quarterly results are due. Its advertising revenue is

at an all-time high. Optimism has been growing over its performance.

The Christmas season saw more consumer spending transfer to the

internet. EBay celebrated a fourth quarter

with a sharp increase in profits. There was strong trading in the

run-up to Christmas. It also gave a stronger than expected outlook for

this year. Shares in the company were climbing in the US.

US prosecutors have charged hedge- fund investors with running up a

trading scheme. They are accused of trading on inside information

gained from an employee of a PC maker ahead of its quarterly

earnings. In the markets, the IMF is looking

to boost its coffers, did boosted investor sentiment. The other story

that helped the market is the news that the Chinese authorities are

looking to make it easier for Chinese banks to lend more and to

boost domestic spending and demands. That has helped since men in Asia

as well. You can see how the euros have been trading. They will start