12/03/2012

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:00:03. > :00:13.latest headlines. Now for the latest financial news with World

:00:13. > :00:17.

:00:17. > :00:20.Welcome to World Business Report. Eurozone finance ministers meet in

:00:20. > :00:30.Brussels today where they are expected to sign off Greece's

:00:30. > :00:38.

:00:38. > :00:48.second - 130 billion euro bailout The Japanese stock market has

:00:48. > :00:55.

:00:56. > :01:01.broken about 10,000. The former heads of eyes than's three main

:01:01. > :01:06.banks are due to testify against the former Prime Minister. Eurozone

:01:06. > :01:15.finance ministers meet in Brussels today where they are expected to

:01:15. > :01:18.sign off Greece's second bail-out package. With the heat off Athens

:01:18. > :01:20.for the moment - they will turn their attention to the worrying

:01:20. > :01:22.state of Government finances elsewhere in the Eurozone. In

:01:22. > :01:25.particular they are expected to focus on Spain, where Prime

:01:25. > :01:28.Minister Mariano Rajoy has admitted he'll miss targets to cut the

:01:28. > :01:35.budget deficit this year. They are also likely to discuss boosting the

:01:35. > :01:40.Eurozone crisis funds from 500 billion euros to 750 billion euros.

:01:40. > :01:50.This week, obviously there is some relief with the deals done on

:01:50. > :01:50.

:01:50. > :01:56.Friday. But then they are looking at what is next? Yes, the main

:01:57. > :02:01.problem areas are just as large. There is Portugal and Spain. The

:02:01. > :02:10.focus might go from Greek bail-out to the lack of growth in the rest

:02:10. > :02:17.of the eurozone. This is acute in Portugal and Spain. We have just

:02:17. > :02:22.gone through the Greek club crisis. -- great crisis. What is the

:02:22. > :02:29.situation like? People are up saying the fund is not big enough

:02:29. > :02:36.to cope with another crisis. Yes, that has been a big issue since the

:02:36. > :02:42.weekend, because the IMF is halving its contribution to the second

:02:42. > :02:50.Greek bowl out. This puts pressure on European money. Spain and

:02:50. > :02:54.Portugal are not as bad as Greece, but the real risk is crows.

:02:54. > :03:03.Portugal will contract this year. Spain says it will miss its fiscal

:03:03. > :03:10.targets. There is not much hope that these big idea is to break the

:03:10. > :03:16.deficits are not working. There has been a stalemate for a long time.

:03:16. > :03:22.At the last G20 meeting they said eurozone economies have to put more

:03:22. > :03:29.money in the pot before they contribute more. Yes, it is

:03:29. > :03:36.circular. The IMF will not give more money. But equally, Germany

:03:36. > :03:43.will not contribute more, and Germany makes the most important

:03:43. > :03:47.contribution to the fund. They would contribute more until they

:03:47. > :03:53.see more fiscal consolidation in the eurozone countries. That is

:03:53. > :03:57.what we are seeing with Spain - that will be very difficult. Either

:03:57. > :04:04.Germany loosens its fiscal grip or there will be problems with

:04:04. > :04:10.investors worrying that the bail- out fund is not big enough. Thank

:04:10. > :04:15.you for talking us through that. Let's talk about Japan. The Nikkei

:04:15. > :04:21.index has traded above 10,000 for the first time in seven months. It

:04:21. > :04:28.is a symbol of the recovering economy after the earthquake one

:04:28. > :04:34.year ago. Tell us more about these encouraging signs from Japan. Very

:04:34. > :04:43.encouraging signs in early and late trading for the Japanese stock

:04:43. > :04:48.market. It is down 26 points now but still very resilient compared

:04:49. > :04:58.to other regions today. Construction companies are making

:04:59. > :05:01.

:05:01. > :05:06.gains as rebuilding gains momentum. Also, you have the weakening yen.

:05:06. > :05:12.It is at at 11-month low against the US dollar, helping the steel

:05:12. > :05:20.makers. You also have improving Chinese demand for Japanese steel

:05:20. > :05:25.and prospects of lower up iPhone or prices. Some still makers have

:05:25. > :05:33.risen 4% today. The Prime Minister has been very vocal about the

:05:33. > :05:40.currency, saying the yen is still overvalued. Many Japanese he does

:05:40. > :05:45.believe fair value is between 90 and 100 yen to the dollar. The

:05:45. > :05:49.Central Bank of Japan is meeting for its two-day meeting and I would

:05:49. > :05:58.imagine is feeling more positive about the outlook given the growth

:05:58. > :06:04.figures last week. Absolutely, but according to many analysts there is

:06:04. > :06:10.still tremendous pressure to do more to stoke the group. Last week

:06:10. > :06:18.the Central Bank surprised markets by boosting asset purchases by up

:06:18. > :06:23.over $120 billion. Inflation is 1% after years of falling prices. The

:06:23. > :06:31.Bank of Japan is on the brink of exhausting all efforts to confront

:06:31. > :06:33.the economy, but they need The Help of the Government to improve

:06:33. > :06:43.sentiment and release the reconstruction funding that will

:06:43. > :06:51.

:06:51. > :06:57.boost the economy. -- the help. Six European airlines have attacked the

:06:57. > :07:06.EU's carbon emissions tax. They say it would cost them billions in lost

:07:06. > :07:14.orders and we took thousands of job losses. China has locked purchases

:07:14. > :07:24.of planes in reaction to new rules about flies to the EU. Toyota it

:07:24. > :07:25.

:07:25. > :07:35.will confirm it has made a profit of 16 being used. The debut was the

:07:35. > :07:36.

:07:36. > :07:39.first car company to gain a firm foothold in China. -- Volkswagen.

:07:39. > :07:42.The former heads of Iceland's three main banks are due to testify today

:07:42. > :07:46.at the trial of ex-Prime Minister Geir Haarde. The banks collapsed in

:07:46. > :07:49.2008 after running up debts almost 10 times the size of the annual GDP,

:07:49. > :07:52.forcing Iceland to seek an IMF rescue. Haarde is on trial for

:07:52. > :07:54.negligence in failing to prevent the crisis, a charge he has called

:07:54. > :08:03.preposterous. He's the first world leader to face criminal charges

:08:03. > :08:09.over the financial crisis. His plea is not guilty. Let's speak to

:08:09. > :08:14.Magnus Arni Skulason, managing director of Reykjavik Economics.

:08:14. > :08:19.Thank you for being on the program. I would imagine bear would be a lot

:08:19. > :08:28.of interest in these three bankers speaking today, in terms of what

:08:28. > :08:30.they will say about what happened. Yes, but of course there is some

:08:30. > :08:38.evidence from the Special Investigation report from the

:08:38. > :08:44.Parliament. What happened last Friday is that the current Prime

:08:44. > :08:49.Minister, took the witness stand, and said the former prime minister

:08:49. > :08:54.did his best and could not be blamed for the crisis. He not a lot

:08:54. > :09:04.of air out of the case. What do you think the outcome of the case will

:09:04. > :09:05.

:09:05. > :09:11.be? He calls it preposterous. difficult to say. This is not only

:09:11. > :09:21.the Supreme Court but also ordinary citizens judging. I would guess

:09:21. > :09:21.

:09:21. > :09:31.that at least so far there is no clear verdict. In terms of its eyes

:09:31. > :09:41.

:09:41. > :09:47.loan's turnaround, how did she do that? -- Ice land's. -- Icelands.

:09:47. > :09:54.The external adjustment came from the Icelandic currency, which made