20/04/2012 World Business Report

being broken and wants to send more international monitors.

Those are the headlines from BBC World News. It is time for the

financial news with World Business Report.

Welcome to World Business Report. The IMF tries to raise $400 billion

to boost its firepower against Europe's debt crisis.

At when the going gets tough, the tough get networking. The boss of

LinkedIn tells us why economic uncertainty has get them growing.

-- has kept them. The International Monetary Fund has received pledges

of an extra $320 billion, effectively doubling its firepower,

in a bid to stave off marketeers -- market attacks. Some of the a

organisations of the members have been keen to boost the reserves.

But the US has rests -- has refused. The funding issue is likely to be a

key talking point at this weekend's meeting of G20 members in

Washington. The IMF's boss wants another $400 billion, and she

nearly has it, thanks to pledges from European countries and Japan.

As part of the outcome of this meeting, we expect our foul at --

our firepower to be significantly increased. The extra money would

double the size of the fund and swell the IMF's coffers. The crisis

risks reset -- resurfacing again as the borrowing costs of Italy and

Spain Klein. At this very moment the IMF can deploy a little bit

less than $400 billion. This is really a fraction of the overall

funding needed should the crisis free escalator. But while European

nations have pledged money, the US, the IMF's biggest contributor, has

confused -- has refused. Europe is a relatively rich Continent. It has

the financial resources to manage this problem. It is going to play

the dominant financial role. We wanted to see them put a more

forceful commitment behind that basic reality. And the emerging

nations only seemed keen to contribute if it increases their

say within the multinational club. That is despite warnings that the

eurozone crisis remains the key threat to the health of the economy.

Getting more money out of the IMF's 188 members is a key issue for this

weekend's meeting. The message is that the debt crisis is not over

and that there are many challenges facing the global economy.

As you have been hearing it is the final day of campaigning in France

ahead of the presidential election. 10 candidates are standing in the

first round but according to the polls it is the Socialist

challenger to President Sarkozy who will triumph. The outcome is one

that has some in the financial markets nervous. Gabriele Parussini

joins us now. He is the economics reporter for the Wall Street

Journal. Why is it the financial markets are so nervous about the

idea of Francois Hollande winning? Financial markets are not nervous

as such, I think they're keeping an eye on France because after a few

months of calm the eurozone -- the eurozone debt crisis is reigniting

again. Any election will be closely watched and scrutinised. But there

are differences between the candidates, and it seems that

Francois Hollande would like to reverse some of the reform measures

that Nicolas Sarkozy brought in regarding employment. What Francois

Hollande is saying is basically, the reform he wants to recall his

marginal. Both candidates in France are running on a platform that is

not an austerity platform as happens in the UK or Spain. It is a

very fiscally responsible plan. Nicolas Sarkozy implemented a

pension reform to cut the retirement age to 62. Francois:

Wants to reduce that for a fraction of the people. -- Francois Hollande.

What about the reaction to what the responsibility in the eurozone? --

towards be. Francois Hollande said he wanted the ECB to have a more

active role in France. President Sarkozy joined him. He has been

repeating that the ECB needs to do more for economic growth and more

to stabilise the markets. He went as far to say it as the euro is

overvalued. Right now they are both looking to Frankfurt for some help

to kick-start economic growth again in France. Thank you.

Shares of business social network LinkedIn has had its ups and downs.

But they are now trading at $100 a share. That is in contrast to some

of the other companies that have come to be website. Groupon has

lost half its value for example. LinkedIn's boss has been speaking

to the BBC. He said the company is in a strong position. We have

reached critical mass. As a result it is challenging for other

platforms to compete on a global basis. We see from time to time the

regional player. But increasingly the world is networked. We are part

of an interdependent global economy. That global scale Sirs the members

well. In the headlines recently, Facebook paid $1 billion for

another company. Is that leading to concerns, that valuation at getting

too high? You are seeing companies with sustainable value propositions,

sustainable competitive advantages. They have fast growing top lines

and in certain cases significant margins and profitability. And they

have an eye towards the long-term vision. Where the public offering

is merely that stepping stone to realising the full potential.

the US seeing a very slow recovery and the debt crisis in Europe, is

there a sense from a company like yours that Asia really is the place

for growth? One of the things we saw after the financial crisis in

the 4th quarter of 2008 was that people were turning to LinkedIn

increasingly for help. There were leveraging their network. When

things became increasingly uncertain people were relying on

their connections to create economic opportunities. And it

wasn't people out of work. It was people already in jobs. Quite a lot

of companies we were preparing for the worst. What we saw was not only

members turning towards LinkedIn for help, but customers were as

well. Their purse strings became smaller as budgets grew tighter.

They were looking for a measurable returns. Regardless of the macro-

economic direction, we have been able to grow. The fact Asia is

growing faster than some other regions of the world is certainly a

positive, and over time we will see how it revolves. Would you say that

you are recession-proof? I would not say that necessarily, but we

have certainly seen in times off economic uncertainty that the

platform has continued to grow. We love being in a position where we

can help our members when they are most anxious. That was the boss of

LinkedIn. More than a survivor of the financial setbacks. Let's have

a look at the business headlines elsewhere. Microsoft's shares have

been on the rise in after hours trading. It is facing tough

competition from the growth of tablet computers and devices using

Android. But it is hitting back with Windows 8.

McDonald's releases its figures before the US Open. It made -- is

made is. Markets according to brokers. -- it may disappoint

markets. We will also hear from General

Electric. They expect a boost to first quarter results.