03/12/2012 World Business Report

Twitter and open a personal account. He wants to use Twitter to spread

the message of the Roman Catholic Church. But a spokesman said the 85

year-old Pontiff is unlikely to actually tweet himself as he

prefers writing in long hand. Those are the latest headlines from BBC

World News. Now for the latest financial news with Aaron. Welcome

to the programme, your chance to catch up with the latest in the

world of business and money. Let's take a look at the headlines: Who's

next in the bail-out club? It's Cyprus. Eurozone officials gather

today to work out the details for the island's $23 billion rescue. In

China the PMI survey says there is a recovery. There are some issues

if expansion is to be sustained. How Superstorm Sandy has set car

sales in the US booming. We will talk about those expected

US car sales in a short time. The eurozone finance ministers meet

again today. With Greece's problems behind them for now, they're due to

turn their attention to the next country in need of a bail-out,

Cyprus. Two weeks ago Cyprus said it had asked for a bail-out,

possibly as much as 17.5 billion euros, that's $23 billion, more or

less equivalent to its GDP. In a nutshell we're talking about a

bail-out that's equivalent to everything the island makes,

produces and sells in a year. The Euro Group wants to know what the

outlook is for debt sustainability. The international investment firm

PIMCO is currently carrying out an audit of the Cypriot banking system

and any deal will involve a large re-capitalisation of Cypriot banks.

The question is, what will the price be that Cypriots have to pay

and are their politicians committed to delivering reforms? Joining us

through Skype is Fiona Mullen, Director of Sapienta Economics.

I want to talk about it priced at a very shot late. Cyprus, white

designate a bail-out in the first place? -- price to pay very shortly.

Three-quarters of the great government debt was written off. --

Greek. That blow a hole in their balance sheets. They did not have

the money to fill it up, neither did the government, so they have

had to go to the eurozone. There have been murmurings about Cyprus

needing a bail-out, but it has taken some time. They have not

wanted to go down that path. They have been asking for money from

Russia and China, haven't they? indeed. The President has tried

everything to not signed this deal. Presidential elections in February.

-- sign. It is not going to be good for his party. There is an

ideological issue here, he is a communist. He did not want to be

seen to be signing a deal with people like the IMF. We know any

bail-out comes with tough measures and conditions, what is the price?

The public sector will see a range of salary cuts. Depending on how

much you earn you will have a bigger cut. We will not have cuts

in headcount so far. Not quite as bad as Greece. Tax rises in tobacco,

alcohol etc. The main cut will be on public sector workers. They will

have to contribute more to their pensions. Great stuff. Thank you.

We will talk to you again some time. In the US the devastation wrought

by Hurricane Sandy has pushed up demand for new cars as those

affected head to showrooms to replace their flooded cars.

November's sales figures should reflect this when they come out

later this Monday. It's providing a welcome boost to the recovering US

car industry. New York's Staten Island, life

after Hurricane Sandy is still a work in progress. Cars damaged by

salt water, as nature left them. His firm pays cash for flooded cars,

giving the owners the value of scrap metal miners vetoing fee.

This is a 98. -- minus the towing fee. A lot of people get emotional.

It was their prized possession. Sharon's have been swamped, by as

replacing cars destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. -- showrooms.

have been working non-stop tour of hours -- 12 hours a day. Even in

the short period we have been here, a customer has come in looking to

replace her car or flooded during Hurricane Sandy. This is helping to

boost sales. When you factor in November data, car sales for this

year could top 15 million. Hurricane Sandy is going to help

drive demand higher than we normally would see. There is just

the underlying US recovery. Consumer confidence is improving

that is going to push people into vehicles. The extra demand for new

vehicles may last into the new year. Let's go to Singapore. Good to see

it. -- you. Let's talk Chinese manufacturing. We have PMI numbers,

the purchasing managers' index. This is where they survey the

managers that sit at the top of the manufacturing chain. They are

feeling rather positive? Yes, they are positive. They are churning out

more machines. PMI is coming in at 50.6. HSBC's figures showing an

expansion. 50.5 in November from 49.5 in October. To give you an

explanation, a reading below 50 suggests growth has slowed down. A

number above 50 indicates an acceleration. Growth accelerated

for larger companies for a third straight month, but medium and

small scale company saw a retrenchment. -- companies. You

have to look at these numbers with a grain of salt. Improving numbers

are because of government investment. Easy credit to

infrastructure project. A lack of dynamism in China's economy is

impacting the him my number. Overall, the economy has improved

in November. -- PMI number. Pro- growth policies are starting to

gain traction. We hope this will be sustained

going into 2013. Some other stories making headlines: News

International chief executive Tom Mockridge will leave his role at

the end of December News Corporation has announced. Mr

Mockridge, who replaced Rebekah Brooks in July 2011, is stepping

down to pursue outside opportunities. Rupert Murdoch,

chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, said Mr

Mockridge's decision was absolutely and entirely his own. Singapore

Airlines said it is in talks to sell its 49% stake in Virgin

Atlantic. Several news agencies are reporting that Delta Airlines is

the interested party according to unnamed sources. Billionaire

Richard Branson holds a controlling 51% of Virgin. A partnership with