:00:12. > :00:19.for the latest financial news and Hello and welcome to World Business
:00:19. > :00:22.Report. Recession, austerity and inflation - a toxic cocktail for
:00:22. > :00:32.the European Central Bank as it holds its monthly meeting later
:00:32. > :00:38.
:00:38. > :00:47.today. Australia's data disappoints as an than whether reinforces a
:00:47. > :00:50.rate cut in May. -- a rate cut Plus, Detroit's latest challenge.
:00:50. > :00:57.Automakers face an ageing market as fewer and fewer young Americans
:00:57. > :01:00.learn to drive. The European Central Bank holds its monthly
:01:00. > :01:04.meeting later today - a day early because of the Easter holidays.
:01:04. > :01:09.Global markets await the next move from ECB President Mario Draghi. He
:01:09. > :01:11.has claimed the worst of the Eurozone debt crisis is over.
:01:11. > :01:15.Certainly his trillion-euro injection into the banking system
:01:15. > :01:18.in the form of ultra-cheap loans has eased the pressure. But
:01:18. > :01:22.attention is now turning to the region's deeper economic problems.
:01:22. > :01:26.The latest factory and jobless reports all point to the 17 nation
:01:26. > :01:30.Eurozone slipping back into recession. Government spending is
:01:30. > :01:35.being slashed across the region - worsening the downturn. Inflation
:01:35. > :01:38.is stubbornly high - pushed up by oil prices and tax rises. That
:01:38. > :01:43.means there's no room to cut interest rates any further from
:01:43. > :01:46.their record low of 1%. And with no return to growth in sight so the
:01:46. > :01:52.risk increases of a second bailout for Portugal or even a bailout for
:01:52. > :02:01.Spain. I'm joined by Philip Tyson who's a strategist at the brokerage
:02:01. > :02:10.ICAP here in London. It all sounds a depressing and a very difficult
:02:10. > :02:16.to change? As you say, the fact we have had a trillion euros injection,
:02:16. > :02:20.giving banks and cheap funding of 1%, and the Greek bailout, some of
:02:20. > :02:25.the pressures have eased and some of the concerns that it is only a
:02:25. > :02:34.matter of time before the focus of the sovereign debt crisis returns
:02:34. > :02:38.to the market's attention. It has helped to ease the pressure in the
:02:38. > :02:44.market fall the banks but it has not address the underlying
:02:44. > :02:51.structural concerns in terms of growth. These economies need growth
:02:51. > :02:59.to get out of the situation. those short-term crisis elements
:03:00. > :03:04.have been sorted out and the firewall, the European bailout
:03:04. > :03:10.money has been increased but it is now the long-term issues and how
:03:10. > :03:20.they will be tackled. What can the Bank do about that? The government
:03:20. > :03:27.spending, the changing interest rates? It could go down the Rue of
:03:27. > :03:31.the US and the UK but they are against that because of their age-
:03:31. > :03:36.old concern about inflation. Particularly when it is above their
:03:36. > :03:41.target rate. What they will try and do is sit on the sideline, try and
:03:41. > :03:46.put the emphasis on the government to solve the issues. Saying they
:03:46. > :03:53.adjust addressing the banking issue. What they might do further along
:03:53. > :03:59.the line, the brakes are even lower, is another long-term funding
:03:59. > :04:05.operation and I would not rule that out at some point during the summer.
:04:05. > :04:09.Thank you. As soon as we hear from the European Central Bank, we will
:04:09. > :04:13.make sure you also here. A fall in demand for coal and metals has led
:04:13. > :04:23.to an unexpected drop in Australian exports. Rico Hizon has the details
:04:23. > :04:29.
:04:29. > :04:34.in Singapore. Col Axford, the main staple of the Australian economy
:04:34. > :04:42.has hit bad weather and the destruction a shipment. A 7% bounce,
:04:42. > :04:47.so we saw a drop in the trade data. A disappointing coal export numbers
:04:47. > :04:54.put Australia unexpectedly in the red for a second month. It has
:04:54. > :04:59.pushed the dollar on and 11-week low. The Trade and numbers follow a
:04:59. > :05:05.string of subdued economic indicators and what could
:05:05. > :05:12.potentially make the RBA is that the consumer price report due out
:05:12. > :05:19.on 24th April. Looking at China. Announcing plans to free up the
:05:19. > :05:26.financial markets? It is looking to increase investment and competition
:05:26. > :05:36.in the financial banking sector. On Tuesday, it tripled the amount that
:05:36. > :05:36.
:05:36. > :05:42.can be invested on the mainland. At the same time, there has been
:05:42. > :05:46.stamens same the monopoly needs to be broken. It may boost growth and
:05:46. > :05:55.create a more international Chinese currency. Opening up the main man
:05:55. > :05:58.financial markets is keep to pushing it as a global currency.
:05:58. > :06:01.Other business stories - French oil giant Total says it's sending
:06:01. > :06:05.experts to the leaking North Sea Elgin gas platform off the coast of
:06:06. > :06:09.Scotland later today or early tomorrow. Relief efforts have been
:06:09. > :06:13.hampered so far by bad weather. The leak is costing Total $2.5 million
:06:13. > :06:17.a day and poses an explosion risk but has yet to do serious
:06:17. > :06:22.environmental damage. The company says the team will look at whether
:06:22. > :06:26.it can be stopped by pumping mud into the well. Another option is to
:06:26. > :06:30.dig relief wells at the source of the gas 4000 metres down but that
:06:30. > :06:33.could take up to six months and cost billions of dollars. Fast food
:06:34. > :06:37.chain Burger King said on Tuesday it plans go public through a deal
:06:37. > :06:40.with a London-listed investment firm, less than two years after it
:06:40. > :06:46.agreed to be taken private by private equity group 3G Capital
:06:46. > :06:48.Management LLC. The quick sale highlights a profit improvement at
:06:48. > :06:51.Burger King' Worldwide Holdings Inc, which operates more than 12,000
:06:51. > :06:54.mainly franchise fast-food outlets around the world. Its new investor
:06:54. > :06:59.Justice Holdings, said it expects the fast food chain's core profits
:06:59. > :07:01.in 2012 to be almost double those in 2010, as it revamps its menu to
:07:01. > :07:04.better compete with McDonald's Corp and Wendy's Co. Mercedes-Benz owner
:07:04. > :07:08.Daimler holds its annual shareholder meeting in Berlin later.
:07:08. > :07:11.March was the best ever month for sales in the history of Mercedes-
:07:11. > :07:15.Benz. But the marque has slipped to third in the global luxury car
:07:15. > :07:22.market behind its German rivals BMW - the market leader - and Audi,
:07:22. > :07:28.which recently overtook it. The New York motor show opens later today -
:07:28. > :07:31.at the end of the best quarter for US car sales since 2008. But as
:07:31. > :07:35.auto makers celebrate their recovery from the dark days of the
:07:35. > :07:38.crisis - a troubling trend is emerging. Fewer and fewer young
:07:38. > :07:44.people are getting driver's licenses, whilst the number of
:07:44. > :07:47.older drivers is rising rapidly as baby boomers age. It is a dramatic
:07:47. > :07:57.challenge to America's car culture, as Caroline Hepker reports from New
:07:57. > :08:02.Jersey. Learning to drive was once a rite of passage for American
:08:02. > :08:08.taints but that has changed since driving -- says this driving
:08:08. > :08:13.instructor. That have a million other things going on. Cars are
:08:13. > :08:19.really expensive and the insurance is almost untouchable for some 16-
:08:19. > :08:24.year-olds. Whether it is the cost of maintaining a car or fewer jobs
:08:24. > :08:28.for youngsters and their parents or even that the internet means you do
:08:28. > :08:38.not have to be in a car to stay connected, it all means there has
:08:38. > :08:38.
:08:38. > :08:44.been a dramatic drop off -- one young Americans in cars. Today,
:08:44. > :08:49.only about 22% a young drivers and they are driving fewer miles. Young
:08:49. > :08:57.people say today they would prefer the Web to a set of wheels
:08:57. > :09:02.according to researchers. I N do not think they are caught, they are
:09:03. > :09:08.necessary. I thought it was cool and hours 15 but now I do not care
:09:08. > :09:14.any more. I know of one other student that drives and to school.
:09:14. > :09:21.It is not very popular. At the same time, there are more all the people
:09:21. > :09:26.on the roads. The baby boomer generation ages and the larger
:09:26. > :09:32.population in the 50s and 70s. So more people are driving longer as
:09:32. > :09:37.they stay healthier and live in suburban places. There is still a
:09:37. > :09:43.need is a mobile and they are holding on to their licences longer.
:09:43. > :09:51.It is a dramatic change on who is on the roads that many see as the