:00:07. > :00:14.April. Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now
:00:14. > :00:22.for the latest money news with World Business Report. Hello and
:00:22. > :00:24.welcome to World Business Report. The headlines: As politicians
:00:24. > :00:34.debate growth versus austerity, today's numbers should confirm the
:00:34. > :00:41.
:00:41. > :00:51.eurozone is back in recession. Asian stock markets are jittery. A
:00:51. > :01:01.slowdown in China's economic growth. Struggling to survive - we look at
:01:01. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:04.how one company is weathering the crisis. It's another critical day
:01:04. > :01:08.for eurozone economies as fears mount over the impact of a
:01:08. > :01:17.disorderly Greek exit from the single currency. Today finance
:01:17. > :01:19.ministers from across the European Union meet in Brussels. Also
:01:19. > :01:21.France's new President, Francois Hollande, will have his first
:01:21. > :01:25.meeting in Berlin with his German counterpart Angela Merkel following
:01:25. > :01:27.his inauguration in Paris. As these key players meet to discuss the
:01:27. > :01:32.crisis the political stalemate in Greece remains unresolved. Talks
:01:32. > :01:38.will resume in Athens today. If they fail to come up with a
:01:38. > :01:40.solution before Thursday another election is likely. Also in two
:01:40. > :01:43.hours time the latest growth figures are expected to show the
:01:43. > :01:51.eurozone has slipped back into recession. Economists predicting a
:01:51. > :01:54.contraction of 0.2% in the first quarter of this year. Late
:01:54. > :01:56.yesterday the ratings agency Moody's cut the credit ratings for
:01:56. > :02:02.26 Italian banks citing their vulnerability to more trouble in
:02:02. > :02:08.the eurozone. The banks include some of Italy's biggest lenders,
:02:08. > :02:11.Unicredit and Intesa San Paolo. Needless to say this is causing
:02:11. > :02:14.investors to sell the euro, the interest rate on Spanish and
:02:14. > :02:18.Italian debt has climbed and shares are falling. We'll have the latest
:02:18. > :02:24.on the markets from Rico in a moment. But first in Brussels is
:02:24. > :02:27.Sony Kapoor, managing director at Re-Define. It has been an
:02:27. > :02:35.interesting 48 hours. Tell us what you think it EU finance ministers
:02:35. > :02:39.will be tackling when they meet today in Brussels. They have to be
:02:39. > :02:46.looking at stopping the speculation that has been taking hold and
:02:46. > :02:53.causing market panic. The fact of the matter is, there is no
:02:53. > :02:59.preparation of any substantial kind for a Greek exit. It is not on the
:02:59. > :03:03.cards for the foreseeable future. Nobody in the eurozone wants it to
:03:04. > :03:09.fall out. The second thing they will discuss, how to arrest the
:03:09. > :03:15.downward spiral that the eurozone is in. The Spanish banks, the
:03:15. > :03:25.downgrade of the Italian banks, the might be entering into recession.
:03:25. > :03:29.
:03:29. > :03:36.All of this has got to be tackled through something like a growth
:03:36. > :03:42.pact. Efforts to tackle tax avoidance and tax evasion. So the
:03:42. > :03:48.cuts do not have to be so bad. Very importantly, defining a road map as
:03:48. > :03:57.to where the eurozone is headed. At the moment nobody knows. It is such
:03:57. > :04:04.a big agenda, the market speculation is very important. How
:04:04. > :04:11.do they manage that? In the markets many traders say they are not
:04:11. > :04:17.looking at if it may exit, but when it will exit. How do they stop that
:04:17. > :04:23.speculative action from going on? We have to stop it -- extremely
:04:23. > :04:28.irresponsible game of chicken that is under way between politicians in
:04:28. > :04:32.Greece and European leaders. European leaders want to send a
:04:32. > :04:38.message to the negotiating Greece politicians that negotiating the
:04:39. > :04:44.terms of the bail-out is not an option. If things were to come to
:04:44. > :04:49.that, Greece might as well be pushed out of the eurozone.
:04:49. > :04:55.Everyone else is listening as well. What needs to happen is that this
:04:55. > :05:00.needs to happen behind closed doors. There needs to be some loosening of
:05:00. > :05:08.the Greek bail-out. There needs to be a recognition in Greece that its
:05:08. > :05:13.future, at least for the disabled few years lies in the eurozone. Any
:05:13. > :05:23.exit would cause human damage to Greece and the rest of the eurozone.
:05:23. > :05:27.
:05:28. > :05:36.It is political, social, economic, the costs are big. Thank you. Let's
:05:36. > :05:39.take you to the Asian markets. Another very tricky day, not least
:05:39. > :05:47.because of the news about the eurozone, but also worries about
:05:47. > :05:53.China? Absolutely. The issue of Greece potentially leaving the is
:05:53. > :05:57.in the minds of many investors. A slowdown in China's economic growth
:05:57. > :06:07.is worrying them a lot. Both factors impacting Asian at
:06:07. > :06:13.
:06:13. > :06:23.Shearer's. -- Asian shares. Regional borrowers are very
:06:23. > :06:24.
:06:24. > :06:30.concerned. Europe is Asia's second largest exporting partner. Much of
:06:30. > :06:39.Asia's trade is financed by Europe's banks. They want to
:06:39. > :06:47.concentrate efforts at which could mean investments in two Asian
:06:47. > :06:55.equities. Worries about China's economy growing slower than
:06:55. > :07:02.previously thought, but when you speak with analysts they say there
:07:02. > :07:12.is nothing to worry about. They say over time it will prove favourable.
:07:12. > :07:22.
:07:22. > :07:28.At the moment it is China and the having an -- the eurozone having an
:07:28. > :07:31.impact on the markets. JP Morgan Chase has confirmed its chief
:07:31. > :07:34.investment officer who presided over a $2 billion trading loss will
:07:34. > :07:37.leave the company. Ina Drew, one of the highest-ranking women on Wall
:07:37. > :07:39.Street, is retiring after more than 30 years with the company. US
:07:39. > :07:42.President Barack Obama says the fact that JPMorgan Chase, one of
:07:42. > :07:48.the country's best managed banks, could lose so much money in
:07:48. > :07:50.derivatives trades, underlines the need for tighter banking regulation.
:07:50. > :07:52.US fragrance firm Coty is withdrawing its $10.7 billion
:07:52. > :07:56.takeover bid for Avon Products, saying the world's largest
:07:56. > :08:00.cosmetics direct seller had missed its deadline to start talks. Coty
:08:00. > :08:03.had first made a public offer for Avon in April, but later told that
:08:03. > :08:13.company's board that it had until the close of business on Monday to
:08:13. > :08:17.
:08:17. > :08:20.start talks. Back to our top story. Growth figures for the eurozone are
:08:20. > :08:23.expected to show the single currency area is actually going
:08:23. > :08:33.into reverse. Our Europe business correspondent went to visit one
:08:33. > :08:40.
:08:40. > :08:44.company trying to survive. These are gifts designed in west London,
:08:44. > :08:49.one third of these products are sold on to wholesale partners in
:08:49. > :08:56.continental Europe. They say Brussels is right to say that
:08:56. > :09:06.economic conditions are not consistently bad but all around
:09:06. > :09:07.
:09:07. > :09:12.they are worsening. This company seems to have succeeded rather than
:09:12. > :09:17.failed in continental Europe because of its concentration on
:09:17. > :09:23.custom design of low-cost items. It has still got plenty of customers
:09:23. > :09:27.in Greece, Spain and Italy. If there is a concern, it is about the
:09:27. > :09:33.availability of credit in those countries. Just as customers select
:09:33. > :09:43.what they buy carefully, suppliers have to be increasingly vigilant to
:09:43. > :09:43.
:09:43. > :09:49.ensure the credit is still good when they get paid. There may be
:09:49. > :09:56.factors beyond their control. We have to be firm but fair with them.
:09:56. > :10:05.Keep the credit under control. We need to do internal risk management.
:10:05. > :10:11.The most successful areas are in the Scandinavian countries. Having
:10:11. > :10:18.said that, we do well in Spain, Italy and to a lesser extent,
:10:18. > :10:21.Greece. The whole of Europe is a market for us. There is strength in
:10:22. > :10:27.the northern area at the moment. Businesses cannot wait for a