:00:03. > :00:09.eyes on Brussels - Greece meets another bail out and Japan's
:00:09. > :00:19.growing trade deficit. Time for the latest financial news in World
:00:19. > :00:22.
:00:22. > :00:25.Welcome. The headlines: Eurozone finance ministers are due to meet
:00:25. > :00:31.to decide whether Greece has done enough to merit a huge bail out
:00:31. > :00:36.loan. Meanwhile, violent protest against cuts in pay and pensions
:00:36. > :00:41.continue. The record high trade deficit for
:00:41. > :00:45.Japan in January after most of the country's nuclear reactors remain
:00:45. > :00:55.shut down. The CEO of French biker Paul tells
:00:55. > :00:59.
:00:59. > :01:04.me about his Asian expansion plans. So, has Greece finally bagged its
:01:04. > :01:09.second bail out? Today's the day we should find out. It is not plain
:01:09. > :01:13.sailing. It is possible that hardline countries might impose new
:01:13. > :01:16.conditions or hold back some cash. Over the weekend the Greek Prime
:01:17. > :01:21.Minister said they had agreed the final measures of cuts to the
:01:21. > :01:25.minimum wage and state pensions. He then got on the plane to Brussels.
:01:25. > :01:35.He may hold last-minute talks ahead of the finance ministers' meeting
:01:35. > :01:37.
:01:37. > :01:43.this afternoon. Here we are again. The 130 bn euro question - will
:01:44. > :01:47.they get that money agreed on today? Most likely they will. I
:01:47. > :01:52.think the sides have been battling for months and this is the endgame
:01:53. > :01:57.now. We are into the final stretch and, in order for the process to
:01:57. > :02:00.move on to the critical stage where you are involving the banks and the
:02:00. > :02:04.private sector involvement of the bail out, you have to have the
:02:04. > :02:09.political package approved in order to move to the second phase, and
:02:09. > :02:15.the planning for that is under way, and it is happening this week as
:02:15. > :02:22.well. We have a rapid-fire sequence which is likely to kick off today.
:02:22. > :02:31.Once we got this agreed on, what would happen next? The Greeks would
:02:31. > :02:36.pass a law to potentially force the banks to agree to the terms of the
:02:36. > :02:43.restructuring of the privately held Greek government debt. Then they
:02:43. > :02:46.will move to the phase where the banks will voluntarily allow 100
:02:46. > :02:54.billion of the debt held in private hands to be restructured, funded by
:02:54. > :02:58.the bail out that the Europeans are organising today. Does this mean
:02:58. > :03:05.Greece will not default? Technically it is as close to a
:03:05. > :03:09.default as possible. It is the thin end of the wedge. Only just by a
:03:09. > :03:14.pure technicality is it not the default at this stage but any of
:03:14. > :03:21.the rating agencies could come in and say, on the basis of what is
:03:21. > :03:25.happening, that the Greeks will pass into legislation this law
:03:25. > :03:29.tomorrow - they could say this would constitute all the conditions
:03:29. > :03:34.for default. It remains a question that will have to be answered this
:03:34. > :03:41.week. There is a huge amount of risk involved as far as this saga
:03:41. > :03:45.is concerned. One of those risks is political change - they might say,
:03:45. > :03:52.we just can't see this through in terms of austerity measures. Have
:03:52. > :03:55.they hedged against that? They have hedged by a really going against
:03:55. > :03:59.the democratic process from a German and European perspective.
:03:59. > :04:03.They have tried to require that the Greeks signed on to the details of
:04:03. > :04:09.the package in spite of whatever may happen at the elections in
:04:09. > :04:13.Greece. So in fact they are in many ways negating the potential voice
:04:13. > :04:17.of opposition that could find a place in Greek government, trying
:04:17. > :04:24.to nip it in the bud, and trying to make sure that you could not alter
:04:24. > :04:28.the terms of the agreement. Thank you for coming in. Those trading on
:04:28. > :04:32.the markets in Asia at the moment they agree that there will be a
:04:32. > :04:37.conclusion to this particular element today. We will look at the
:04:37. > :04:40.numbers later, but all along one of the problems has been that Greece
:04:40. > :04:44.has found it hard to stick to its promises. It is usually the
:04:44. > :04:48.politicians who are blamed for not collecting more taxes but one
:04:48. > :04:58.trader says the Greek people must take responsibility for the
:04:58. > :04:58.
:04:58. > :05:03.financial mess they are in. This man has a family of five and
:05:03. > :05:08.used to own a multi- euro business employing 14 people building
:05:08. > :05:11.swimming pools. Now he does of jobs for as little as 5 euros a time.
:05:11. > :05:15.One problem was that many customers would not pay government tax but
:05:15. > :05:21.he's still got chased for it. Tax rebates have now been cancelled so
:05:21. > :05:26.he says there is little incentive to submit his paperwork. He says
:05:26. > :05:36.many citizens try to dodge tax on every purchase. If they tell us,
:05:36. > :05:36.
:05:36. > :05:41.for example, this costs 100 euros, we sometimes ask, if you will not
:05:41. > :05:47.give me a receipt, will you give it to me for 80 euros? Of the state
:05:47. > :05:52.loses taxes and income. This is also our fault but if 5 million of
:05:52. > :05:56.us do that it is a bigger mound. workers like this struggle to feed
:05:56. > :06:01.their families, finance ministers are gathering in Brussels and today
:06:01. > :06:06.they are being asked to sign up for their biggest bail out yet. Each
:06:06. > :06:11.time they demand in return them Greece changes its ways so more tax
:06:11. > :06:15.is paid and collected so Athens starts to get a grip with its debts,
:06:15. > :06:22.but so far there is not much evidence on the ground that the
:06:22. > :06:26.country is yet turning over a new leaf.
:06:26. > :06:31.Needless to say, as soon as we get any news from the finance
:06:32. > :06:35.ministers' meeting today, we will make sure you hear it on the BBC.
:06:35. > :06:44.Japan has reported a record high trade deficit with imports
:06:44. > :06:51.outpacing exports by nearly 19 billion dollars. Tell us more about
:06:51. > :06:56.Japan. It is indeed bad news with this
:06:56. > :07:02.deficit in the month of January, and the culprit is the strong yen
:07:02. > :07:08.which has hurt exports and the nuclear crisis which has increased
:07:08. > :07:14.exports. Most of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors were shut down after the
:07:14. > :07:18.tsunami last year. Japan has been hurt by a slowdown in its key
:07:18. > :07:22.export markets, the United States and the eurozone. Carmakers have
:07:22. > :07:27.been the worst hit by the strengthening yen and these
:07:27. > :07:30.disasters. There could be light at the end of the tunnel - the yen is
:07:31. > :07:35.trading at a six-month the US dollar, inching closer to about 80
:07:35. > :07:40.yen, and, with improving US economics, this could result in a
:07:41. > :07:44.stronger green back which could further weaken the yen to between
:07:44. > :07:50.82-85, so this could basically narrow the deficit over the next
:07:50. > :07:56.few months. Let's change tack and talk about a
:07:56. > :08:06.French a car looking to expand significantly in Singapore. --
:08:06. > :08:11.
:08:11. > :08:15.baker. They plan to open branches in
:08:15. > :08:23.Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines in the next year, and I
:08:23. > :08:30.asked the CEO if they planned to go public on the French stock exchange
:08:30. > :08:39.soon. You never say No But the filling of the family is to stay
:08:39. > :08:46.private, work with franchising and just maintain the family business.
:08:46. > :08:52.The family members are hands-on, not expecting huge profits. We have
:08:52. > :08:55.a long-term vision so that has made a huge difference. You are opening
:08:55. > :09:00.your flagship store here in Singapore for the south-east Asian
:09:00. > :09:05.market. What are your plans in the region for the next few years?
:09:05. > :09:10.the moment we are in three countries and we plan to expand to
:09:10. > :09:17.one or two new countries per year. We are planning to open this year,
:09:17. > :09:22.for example, in two new countries, especially in Indonesia. Argue
:09:22. > :09:29.expanding in Asia because of slower growth in the eurozone? At the
:09:29. > :09:33.moment we are planning to open 20 shops outside France. We have 350
:09:33. > :09:42.shops and we believe we can double the size of the company in France.
:09:42. > :09:48.We are opening, let's say, 32-40 shops in Europe per year. We think
:09:48. > :09:56.Asia is another market, so that's why we want to establish our base
:09:56. > :10:00.in Singapore, to be close to our partners. Paul's had it piled joint
:10:00. > :10:06.venture in China last year and they plan to reopen operations on the
:10:06. > :10:10.mainland by 2013. Let's squeeze in some other stories.
:10:10. > :10:15.Iran has halted oil sales to British and French companies