21/03/2012

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:00:02. > :00:11.be out of immediate danger. Those are the latest headlines from BBC

:00:11. > :00:18.World News. Now the latest money news with World Business Report.

:00:18. > :00:22.Hello and welcome to World Business Report. The UK Chancellor presents

:00:22. > :00:26.his budget to parliament today, but will his changes to tax and spend

:00:26. > :00:30.be enough to boost the flagging economy? How Portugal is coping

:00:31. > :00:40.with austerity measures and threats of massive strikes. We have a

:00:41. > :00:43.

:00:43. > :00:53.report from the town of Porto. Trade tensions between the United

:00:53. > :00:55.

:00:55. > :01:03.States and China intensified. China is accused of unfair subsidies on

:01:03. > :01:09.us all white panels. Could to help you with the pass. -- Good To Have

:01:09. > :01:12.you with us. It's budget day here in the UK and George Osborne has a

:01:12. > :01:15.tough task ahead. Economic growth is anaemic at best and unemployment

:01:15. > :01:19.is at a 17-year high. The Chancellor, who has put the UK

:01:19. > :01:22.economy on a path of austerity, has little spare cash to play with, so

:01:22. > :01:26.tinkering with taxes is most likely. Among the measures he is expected

:01:26. > :01:32.to announce are tax cuts paid by business and low and middle income

:01:32. > :01:39.families. Julia Caesar reports. Kicking groove back into Britain is

:01:39. > :01:45.a huge priority, but the Chancellor has little room to manoeuvre. With

:01:45. > :01:51.a sluggish economy and a Euro crisis, he is trying to promote a

:01:51. > :01:58.competitive UK. Our economy has barely grown in the last 12 months.

:01:58. > :02:05.In the final quarter of 2011 it fell back slightly. Unemployment is

:02:05. > :02:12.at a 17-year high. More than one million young people are unemployed.

:02:12. > :02:17.Their outlook is far from robust. Businesses are calling for Ray

:02:17. > :02:23.radical Budget to jump-start the economy. They want tax cuts,

:02:23. > :02:28.investment in infrastructure, less red tape, a revolution in planning

:02:28. > :02:33.rules and increased lending to small business. 60% of UK small

:02:33. > :02:42.businesses are struggling to get loans. Under a new scheme they will

:02:42. > :02:47.get credit with interest rates lower by 1%. We will see

:02:48. > :02:55.initiatives being taken forward. Investment relief will be talked

:02:55. > :03:01.about. We will see something about the mainstream corporate tax rate.

:03:01. > :03:07.Also something to help low-income employees. But it will not be a big

:03:07. > :03:15.band, because they do not have the money. How will they raise the

:03:16. > :03:25.money? -- brain. There will be provisions to stop tax leading --

:03:26. > :03:26.

:03:26. > :03:32.leaking through avoidance. -- bang. The Budget has to stimulate growth

:03:32. > :03:36.and reduce spending. Ratings agencies say any sign of back-

:03:36. > :03:41.pedalling on players to cut the deficit mean that they see UK could

:03:41. > :03:47.be stripped of its top credit rating. This would push government

:03:47. > :03:55.borrowing costs up. We will have coverage of that budget throughout

:03:55. > :04:05.the day. There is also a lot of information on our website. Heat

:04:05. > :04:07.

:04:07. > :04:17.across all our outlets. -- heat. -- keep. Greece's parliament has

:04:17. > :04:19.

:04:19. > :04:28.approved a new international bailout deal early this morning.

:04:28. > :04:31.The bill authorises cuts in wages, pensions and jobs. Oil prices have

:04:32. > :04:35.fallen from recent highs after the world's biggest exporter said it

:04:35. > :04:38.was ready to boost global supply to prevent any shortages. Saudi

:04:38. > :04:41.Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi said 11 tankers laden with crude

:04:41. > :04:44.were sailing to the United States. Indian airline Kingfisher says it's

:04:44. > :04:46.halting international flights as it seeks more funding. Earlier today

:04:46. > :04:56.India's airline regulator warned it could cancel Kingfisher's licence

:04:56. > :04:58.

:04:58. > :05:05.if owner Vijay Mallya does not come up with a viable turnaround plan.

:05:05. > :05:15.Now we go to news of a trade war greeny between China and the US.

:05:15. > :05:18.

:05:18. > :05:24.What is going on? -- Brewin. -- brewing. These tensions have

:05:24. > :05:34.intensified. Solo a panel cells but the new topic. BC's after President

:05:34. > :05:37.

:05:37. > :05:46.Baba Amr complained about rare oasis -- rare earths. -- this is

:05:46. > :05:52.after Barack Obama. The US claims that Chinese solo panel companies

:05:52. > :05:56.are benefiting from unfair export subsidies. So light panels are not

:05:56. > :06:06.the only Chinese product which might become more expensive in the

:06:06. > :06:07.

:06:07. > :06:12.US. Galvanised steel wire is another thing. The US says they

:06:12. > :06:18.will decide whether to investigate if Chinese made stainless steel

:06:18. > :06:25.sinks are unfairly subsidised. Earlier I spoke to an analyst in

:06:25. > :06:32.Beijing. He said these tit-for-tat duties and complains will continue.

:06:32. > :06:39.We will talk about it again in the future. We will see you again soon.

:06:39. > :06:42.Back to Europe. Portugal is in focus today. We'll find out later

:06:42. > :06:46.how the Portuguese people respond to a call from the country's

:06:46. > :06:49.largest union for a general strike. This in protest of the continuing

:06:49. > :06:53.austerity cuts ordered by the EU and IMF. But there's another test

:06:53. > :06:56.for the country today, when it tries to raise billions from a

:06:56. > :06:59.short term debt auction. Portugal's real problem is that it also needs

:06:59. > :07:06.to return to the long-term borrowing markets. Because if it

:07:06. > :07:16.stays locked out, it will be forced to seek yet another bailout. One

:07:16. > :07:21.year ago, 78 billion euros looked enough, such as austerity cuts,

:07:21. > :07:27.another rescue it is being discussed. Meanwhile, staying

:07:27. > :07:32.afloat is a priority for family businesses wiped these third-

:07:32. > :07:42.generation specialist food store in the city of Oporto. It has avoided

:07:42. > :07:45.

:07:45. > :07:51.closure by sacrificing profits and avoiding price increases. -- Porto.

:07:51. > :07:56.People do not have much money to spend. But according to these

:07:56. > :08:03.economists, Portugal is just postponing insolvency. He says it

:08:03. > :08:07.should renegotiate with its creditors. There is no point

:08:08. > :08:14.delaying the moment. We should face it right now, because the situation

:08:14. > :08:20.is not as bad as it will be in one year. The later we negotiate, the

:08:21. > :08:29.worse it will be fought the Portuguese economy and people.

:08:29. > :08:34.is true, but austerity has hastened a creek-style recession. But most

:08:34. > :08:39.voters except that the vast cost of state benefits are part of the

:08:39. > :08:45.problem. The difficulty is getting growth going. The Portuguese have

:08:46. > :08:49.done everything they have been asked by the European partners.

:08:49. > :08:59.Trikes -- strikes tomorrow will dent the Government was make

:08:59. > :09:00.

:09:00. > :09:05.resolve. More negotiations with lenders look highly likely. -- the

:09:05. > :09:10.Government's resolve. Looking at the markets, losses across the

:09:10. > :09:17.board. This is the first day of losses in Japan for six trading

:09:17. > :09:23.sessions. People are thinking the Chinese economy is headed to slow

:09:23. > :09:29.down its rapid growth. The economic news coming from bitter date is

:09:29. > :09:35.feeling bad Fiat - the mainland fecal sales this year will miss

:09:35. > :09:41.their targets. Also, China has raised fuel prices for the second