:00:05. > :00:15.withdrawing their diplomats from Damascus. Time now for the money
:00:15. > :00:17.
:00:17. > :00:21.news with Sally and World Business Hello and a very warm welcome.
:00:21. > :00:23.These are the headlines. Trade ties with China might be strained but
:00:23. > :00:33.the United States relations with neighbouring South Korea have
:00:33. > :00:46.
:00:46. > :00:50.The trade ties with China might be strained but the United States'
:00:50. > :00:53.relations with neighbouring South Korea have rarely been stronger. A
:00:53. > :00:56.free trade agreement comes into force today which could create more
:00:56. > :01:02.than 300,000 jobs in South Korea, and boost economic growth over the
:01:02. > :01:06.next 10 years. But not everyone is happy with the deal. After six
:01:06. > :01:11.years of negotiating, ratifying and protesting, South Korea's free-
:01:11. > :01:14.trade agreement with the US has arrived. Starting today American
:01:14. > :01:21.products in Seoul should start to look a bit cheaper and in five
:01:21. > :01:30.years' time, 95% of trade should be tariff free. For lovers of the
:01:30. > :01:34.American Brands here, how will those savings be? While some
:01:34. > :01:39.companies were planning on enforcing more American products,
:01:40. > :01:43.only a quarter will pass on the full reductions to the customers.
:01:43. > :01:49.But for career the real value of the deal lies in access to
:01:49. > :01:54.customers in the US. South Korea's share in the US market has fallen,
:01:55. > :01:58.something the trade ministers said he hoped the deal would offset.
:01:58. > :02:03.Given the eurozone crisis, the timing of this deal today could not
:02:03. > :02:09.be any better. I have every confidence that the trade sector
:02:09. > :02:15.will pick up and the business community's of both career and the
:02:15. > :02:25.US will enjoy the benefits of this win-win agreement -- Almeria.
:02:25. > :02:25.
:02:25. > :02:29.not everybody sees things that way. Farmers have staged protests.
:02:29. > :02:33.Opposition parties have said they will try to block the deal if they
:02:33. > :02:41.win elections here this year. The agreement may be done but there is
:02:41. > :02:45.still plenty of negotiating to do at home. Another trade row seems
:02:45. > :02:48.close to conclusion. The US says it will lift import duties on some
:02:48. > :02:50.orange juice produced in Brazil. The Latin American country is the
:02:50. > :02:53.world's biggest producer - accounting for 85% of exports. But
:02:53. > :02:55.influential citrus farmers in Florida had claimed Brazil was
:02:55. > :03:05.hurting their industry by dumping artificially cheap juice on the
:03:05. > :03:06.
:03:06. > :03:10.market. And those of you wanting to challenge Amerca's interest rate
:03:10. > :03:13.strategy can so so via twitter. As part of a plan to make itself more
:03:13. > :03:15.accessible to the public - the Federal Reserve has joined the
:03:15. > :03:21.social network site - using the name @federalreserve. The Central
:03:21. > :03:25.Bank says it will use it to post press releases and speeches. A euro
:03:25. > :03:32.group of ministers gave their final approval to release hundred and
:03:32. > :03:38.EUR30 billion of money to Greece at the same time. The IMF changed its
:03:38. > :03:41.lending rules clearing the way for the IMF to approve a $28 billion
:03:41. > :03:51.loan to Greece today. They will now be able to pay the money back over
:03:51. > :03:55.four years instead of three. Marie Diron is a Senior economic adviser
:03:55. > :03:59.to the Ernst & Young Eurozone Forecast. It means Greece can get
:03:59. > :04:06.their hands on this much needed cash. Yes, this was the last hurdle
:04:06. > :04:10.and now they can go on with the plan agreed. How will it work on a
:04:10. > :04:15.practical level? It doesn't have that restructuring deadline hanging
:04:15. > :04:21.over it any more, but it does have regular dates where it has to prove
:04:21. > :04:28.itself to get the next set of money. The sense of extreme emergency we
:04:28. > :04:33.had a few weeks ago has gone. But the deadlines will come fast. Every
:04:33. > :04:37.quarter the improvement in the Greek situation will be at reviewed
:04:37. > :04:44.by the IMF and euro governments, to decide whether they want to release
:04:44. > :04:50.more money or not. In terms of the targets that have been set for it
:04:50. > :04:57.to prove its meeting on a three- monthly basis, are a realistic?
:04:57. > :05:03.will be difficult. In the best case scenario Greece will have a debt of
:05:03. > :05:10.120 % of GDP in ten years' time -- are a realistic. That seems
:05:10. > :05:17.ambitious. -- Are there any realistic. Maybe these figures need
:05:17. > :05:24.to be adjusted -- are they realistic. Is this firewall not
:05:24. > :05:30.very strong? It is possible. The Greek economy still faces deep
:05:30. > :05:36.recession. There is a 6% fall in GDP this year anticipated. Thank
:05:36. > :05:40.you for joining us. Fitch has become the third ratings agency to
:05:40. > :05:43.warn the UK could lose its triple A credit rating. Late yesterday it
:05:43. > :05:47.changed its outlook on the UK economy to negative just a week
:05:47. > :05:50.before UK finance minister George Osborne announces his annual budget.
:05:50. > :05:58.He's under pressure to reverse planned benefit cuts due to rising
:05:58. > :06:01.unemployment and shrinking national wealth. The Managing Director of
:06:01. > :06:07.Fitch Ratings had warned the UK's triple A rating could come under
:06:07. > :06:13.scrutiny just a few months ago. When you look at the Albert for the
:06:13. > :06:16.UK, you see the UK will become the most indebted of the current AAA
:06:16. > :06:21.rated governments with the sole exception of the United States --
:06:21. > :06:26.the outlook. Over time there is a prospect that it could come under
:06:26. > :06:30.scrutiny. Lufthansa is expected to announce a 13 million euro lost
:06:30. > :06:34.when it releases its final year results in a few hours. They are
:06:34. > :06:39.trying to curb their losses by selling off British Midland but the
:06:39. > :06:45.sale could take a long time to complete. So what could they do to
:06:45. > :06:55.return to profit? British Midland International, the EMI, made losses
:06:55. > :07:04.
:07:04. > :07:11.last year of 200 AD EUR5 million -- 2007 compared to a healthy profit
:07:11. > :07:15.in 2010 of EUR1.1 billion. BMI's losses have been largely to blame
:07:16. > :07:21.but Lufthansa was also hit by slack passenger demand in Europe and
:07:21. > :07:26.rising fuel costs. Many analysts say the airline should devote 2012
:07:26. > :07:30.to streamlining its rather flabby operations. For example Lufthansa
:07:30. > :07:36.uses no fewer than 20 different types of aircraft to fly its
:07:36. > :07:41.passengers. It is about having the right planes for the right routes,
:07:41. > :07:48.having the turnaround times right, getting the Labour levels and
:07:48. > :07:54.Labour terms to match some stage of the art 75 employees roughly to get
:07:54. > :07:58.the playing in the air -- date of the art. Lufthansa has agreed to
:07:58. > :08:08.sell BMI to the International Air Lines Group for EUR200 million --
:08:08. > :08:13.
:08:13. > :08:17.eight of the art. -- state-of-the- art. Virgin is lobbying the
:08:17. > :08:21.European Commission to try to block this deal. If this deal doesn't
:08:21. > :08:26.proceed it is quite likely Lufthansa will choose to close BMI
:08:26. > :08:34.and in circumstances like that competition authorities take a
:08:34. > :08:44.pretty lenient view. Lufthansa is ditching BMI as a bad purchase. The
:08:44. > :08:48.
:08:48. > :08:58.low-cost carrier it also has can possibly say it. We are seeing a
:08:58. > :09:31.
:09:31. > :09:41.fairly mixed picture in Asia today One of the stories that sticks out,