29/02/2012 World Business Report

Now it is time for World Business Here are the headlines: The ECB of

us emergency cash two banks had super low interest rates.

Asian stocks are at seven-month highs and its regional emerging

currencies are heading for a second month of gains.

We'll find out just how strong the US economy really is when 4th

quarter results are released later In a few hours, we will be finding

out how much the European Central Bank has given to banks in its

latest round of emergency refinancing. Last December it

handed out nearly 500 billion euros to banks to avert a credit crunch.

How much will they ask for this time?

Last December as Europeans shop for Christmas, the Continent's

financial sector verged on collapse. The ECB land banks a total of 489

billion euros at 1% annual interest. A timely gift. The ECB's emergency

injection of cash has already done a lot to bolster Europe's any make

of financial system. Major banks have recently issued billions of

euros worth of new bonds and these had been bought up readily on the

international financial markets. So how much more emergency cash does

the ECB needs to inject this time around? Up until last week,

financial markets thought the banks would bid for a further one

trillion euros, but now it is thought they would only borrow half

that much. Many banks are afraid of seeming desperate. If you see

funding needs in the future, then the take up will certainly be there.

On the other hand, the implications for the sector will be interpreted

A lot of banks have put their new cash into government bonds,

including Spanish banks. This has reduced yields, reducing the costs

of serving government debts. Could this be the answer to the eurozone

debt crisis? What they are supportive opera for dead, what

they are really doing is shifting debt risk not from the periphery to

the core, but from peripheral governments to peripheral banks.

But for us is a temporary solution, rather than a permanent one.

ECB wants to keep these options to a minimum. They are nervous banks

will become too reliant on the artificially cheap loans.

I am joined by the senior adviser at HSBC global banking and markets.

The market in December, when his first auction took place, but very

excited about this, it gave a massive boost to share markets. Is

it the same at this time? It has already anticipated to be the same.

I do not think the effect will be quite as much. I think the whole

process has just added some stability to the European banking

market and that has made everybody much happier. The fact that we will

not now have a situation where companies go bust. It has added

liquidity to Europe. Last time, more than half of the uptake of the

funds was by Spanish and Italian banks. Do think it will be a

similar story this time? I think so. They are the ones who really needed

and they are the ones we really think should be there. It is

keeping those Italian and Spanish yields down. It is making sure that

they have enough money. Briefly, how critical has this been in the

eurozone debt crisis story, in terms of keeping us all one-track?

I think it has made a huge difference. It does not mean the

banks will not have to be leverage, but they have three years to do it.

It has bought the brunt -- brought the bond yields down. It was not

sustainable earlier, but the Let's have a look at the Asian

markets, which are doing very well. They are powered higher by the

strongest close to the US stocks since before the 2008 financial

crisis. There is a whole bunch of reasons why, is that they?

Absolutely. Traders are currently smiling because of the Good

fortunes for the regional forces. It is scaling up numbers not seen

for more than seven months. Investors are being inspired by a

number of factors. Wall Street is at its higher since February are of

last year. A fresh cash injection by the ECB as well. Japan is the

solid performer, the Nikkei raising more than 1%. The index is on track

Other markets in the Regent are trying to keep up with Japan. Bench

marks in South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand

and Indonesia are all moving up. Most Asian economies are headed by

a second month of gains. It is fuelled by major capital inflows

into the region. It is a good day One of the other reasons why these

markets did so well was a better than expected rise in US consumer

confidence. It has given the market a boost and today we get US growth

figures for the 4th quarter, which should show growth of 2.8%. Our

correspondent has more. The health of the hotel industry

can say a lot about an economy. When times are tough, one of the

first things people card is a travel budget. What can the

performance of the Intercontinental Hotel Group tell us about the

economy in America? Let's go need the boss to find out. Can you talk

to me a bit about occupancy rates at the moment in the hotels? Give

us a sense of how things are going. In the US, we are only 2% or 3%

below the record peak. Every month since March of last year, we have

seen record demand. The demand is there. Rates have been growing

because occupancy has been growing. Another, perhaps more accurate,

measure that people like to look at is how much money you make per

Bruen. Talk to me a bit about how that looks right now? In 2011, we

saw in the US a 7% rise. We also saw double-digit rise in Asia. You

get recession fatigue. You cannot sit in your office for ever and not

go and visit customers. I think we saw that activity just grew. Given

the difficulties we have seen in the global economy and also a

fairly recent recovery in the US, why did you decide to launch his

new brand? Do you hope it will bring new customers to your

company? Very much so. The essence of this brand is targeting the new

trend in the economy. We estimate about 17 million travellers want

this. A lot of those are not targeted by our existing brands,

which are target of themselves. We see this as taking business from

hell competitors. A UN optimist with it comes to the prospects of

2012? I am not an Economist. I am reasonably optimistic about the US

economy in the long-term. It is a very reactive place and people are

generally optimists. You need confidence to make investment

I just want to mention Greece Before I Say Goodbye. It has

approved bid a new austerity measures, slashing minimum wage and