:00:04. > :00:14.an international moratorium but hunting for researchers allowed.
:00:14. > :00:14.
:00:15. > :00:21.Time for bold business report. -- World Business Report.
:00:21. > :00:25.Welcome. The headlines: The euro falls and Asian stocks rise in
:00:25. > :00:30.anticipation of a rate cut from the European Central Bank. A crucial
:00:30. > :00:39.test for Ireland as it returns to the market for its first auction in
:00:39. > :00:42.nearly two years. Europe's sinking economy and
:00:42. > :00:46.struggling banks could get some help today from an interest rate
:00:46. > :00:56.cut by the European Central Bank. Economists think it will reduce
:00:56. > :00:56.
:00:56. > :01:05.rates by at least 0.25. On Tuesday, the rising expectation of a rate
:01:05. > :01:09.cut helped lift stock markets in Europe, which have been rallying.
:01:09. > :01:17.The European Central Bank is likely to hold off for more -- from more
:01:17. > :01:25.aggressive measures. I'm joined by a currency analyst. A
:01:25. > :01:29.rate cut is expected today. By how much? Most likely it will be cut
:01:29. > :01:37.0.25 of their Prasad. There is some talk that they could do twice that
:01:37. > :01:44.and take the key interest-rate down 0.5%. But they tend to be very slow
:01:44. > :01:49.and cautious. Why are they doing this now? And many have been
:01:49. > :01:53.calling for them to do this. Is it a sign that Germany is slowing
:01:53. > :01:58.down? I think that is the case. There have been signed within the
:01:58. > :02:03.German economy that we are starting to see a slowdown in industry. And
:02:03. > :02:11.there is the long-term downward drag from the eurozone crisis.
:02:12. > :02:18.Should they have gone earlier? I think they should have. Should they
:02:18. > :02:25.do more this time? I think so. We have to remember that these prices
:02:25. > :02:29.are in the margins. There is a need to get interest rates down to make
:02:29. > :02:34.life easier and help deal with the austerity measures. I think they
:02:34. > :02:42.should do more than they will. it make their life easier? Rates
:02:42. > :02:49.are already very low. Willie cut make a big difference to Spain,
:02:49. > :02:55.Italy, Greece? It could make a modest difference. People are
:02:55. > :02:59.paying more on mortgages. That is if it is passed on. Absolutely. If
:02:59. > :03:05.it is passed on, it will make a minor cut. More generally, there is
:03:05. > :03:09.a need to get to the idea of quantitative easing. Making money
:03:09. > :03:15.cheaper by printing more money. That is what we need in these
:03:15. > :03:22.countries. Will it led to inflation in Germany? Possibly. But inflation
:03:22. > :03:27.is at low levels. What the ECB go down that road? They have done the
:03:27. > :03:33.long-term refinancing operation. Those cheap loans issued last year
:03:33. > :03:37.and February this year. That was taken up massively. It seemed to to
:03:37. > :03:43.get us away from the crisis in the banking sector. But we're back in
:03:43. > :03:51.it with Spain. D think this is something they will consider?
:03:51. > :03:58.think it is. I saw the All tiara is being an indirect version of one to
:03:58. > :04:06.take it easing any way. I have no problem whether they do a third
:04:06. > :04:12.operation on the other one. -- or quantitative easing. We need to get
:04:12. > :04:17.more money into the system. Bank of England decision on
:04:17. > :04:24.interest rates is unlikely to do anything. Will we see more money
:04:24. > :04:29.pumped in? More wanted to be easing from the UK? I think we will.
:04:29. > :04:32.Probably �50 billion this afternoon. We had a lot of signs in minutes
:04:32. > :04:37.from the last meeting. The difference between you and the UK
:04:37. > :04:41.and the eurozone is that we are a nation that can make the decision
:04:41. > :04:51.quickly. The eurozone has 17 nations. Much more difficult to
:04:51. > :04:58.come to a decision. Thank you. Let's move on to Ireland. It has
:04:58. > :05:02.been two years since it was forced to ask for a bank bail-out. Today,
:05:03. > :05:09.we will find out if it has regained the confidence of market with its
:05:09. > :05:13.first debt sale in over 1.5 years. Ireland is aiming to sell treasury
:05:13. > :05:20.bills. Ireland is making a cautious mood
:05:20. > :05:24.towards regaining the trust of bond investors. When it sells $629
:05:24. > :05:27.million of Treasury bills, marking the country's first auction since
:05:27. > :05:33.it was locked out of international capital markets two years ago. At
:05:33. > :05:36.the height of the banking crisis, the Irish government was forced to
:05:36. > :05:42.turn to the Europe and International Monetary Fund.
:05:42. > :05:45.Investors refused to bear -- lend it any more money. If it is to
:05:45. > :05:51.avoid a second bail out, the government needs to be able to fund
:05:51. > :05:56.itself from the bond market. The kind here you and IMF loans will
:05:56. > :06:01.expire next year. Irish yields have declined after you lenders --
:06:01. > :06:05.European lenders are great that bail out funds will be able to
:06:05. > :06:12.recapitalise banks directly. Ireland's, and once this policy to
:06:12. > :06:17.apply retrospectively to its lenders. The average performance in
:06:17. > :06:24.terms of digging their way out of the whole they were in it is the
:06:24. > :06:27.most impressive. There are still with the bombs in the road. The
:06:27. > :06:35.economic environment globally is not terribly promising of the next
:06:35. > :06:41.six months. That might delay some of the ability of the Irish public
:06:41. > :06:44.finances to look in better shape. The movies at the mercy of investor
:06:44. > :06:54.sentiment towards the recession. Any setback in Spain, Italy or
:06:54. > :06:56.
:06:56. > :07:00.Greece could have the potential to sour sentiment.
:07:00. > :07:04.Some of the British MPs who questioned the former Chief
:07:04. > :07:08.Executive of Barclays Bank over- rate fixing have now question the
:07:08. > :07:11.possibility of his evidence. The chairman of the Treasury Select
:07:11. > :07:14.Committee and several other members have called into question the
:07:14. > :07:22.answers given by Bob Diamond during the three-hour session in
:07:22. > :07:29.parliament yesterday. There will be a parliamentary inquiry into
:07:29. > :07:37.banking following the scandal. It was surprising that Bob Diamond
:07:37. > :07:44.said he knew nothing about the rate fixing until a month ago.
:07:44. > :07:54.The 50.1 % stake in poor show remaining will be bought. -- in
:07:54. > :07:59.
:07:59. > :08:04.poor shot. Volkswagen will pay $5.6 billion to acquire the stake.
:08:04. > :08:10.The former head of France Telecom has been put under formal
:08:10. > :08:15.investigation for harassment. It relates to the suicides of over 30
:08:15. > :08:19.employees and 2008 and 2009 when he was in charge and presided over an
:08:19. > :08:22.efficiency drive in which tens of thousands of jobs were cut. Many of
:08:22. > :08:27.those who killed themselves left notes blaming pressure from
:08:27. > :08:33.management. He wrote that restructuring of the company may
:08:33. > :08:38.have upset employees but challenged the idea that it caused suicides.
:08:38. > :08:45.He was forced to step down in 2010. In Spain, authorities have opened a
:08:45. > :08:48.court case against former executives of Bankia. 33 officials
:08:48. > :08:54.are named in the lawsuit, which includes the former chief of the
:08:54. > :09:04.IMF. The case accuses them of fraud, price-fixing and falsifying
:09:04. > :09:06.
:09:06. > :09:11.accounts. Many Spaniards arrive happy with Bankia.
:09:11. > :09:17.The markets today are having their first day of declines for Asia in
:09:17. > :09:25.seven days. Asia has had six days of gains, probably the best of this
:09:25. > :09:28.year. There have been up most though this week on the expectation
:09:28. > :09:33.that the European Central Bank will cut rates today. But also that
:09:33. > :09:43.Chinese banks would be allowed to reduce their capital reserve ratios
:09:43. > :09:45.