:00:23. > :00:28.It is time for World Business Currency wars on for the agenda as
:00:28. > :00:31.a T20 finance ministers gather in Washington. Japan's Finance
:00:31. > :00:37.Minister says they are not trying to weaken the yen.
:00:37. > :00:47.Three years on from America's worst environmental disaster, we assess
:00:47. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:56.the long-term impact of the Welcome to World Business Report.
:00:56. > :01:02.In a moment, we will have more in the aftermath of the BP spill three
:01:02. > :01:06.years on. In Washington, the IMF and were old bank are holding their
:01:06. > :01:09.annual spring meetings. Fineness ministers and central
:01:09. > :01:14.bankers in the G20 group of nations have been meeting over dinner in
:01:14. > :01:18.the last few hours. The issue of currency wars is high on their
:01:18. > :01:22.agenda. The latest row has been over Japan and its 1.4 trillion
:01:22. > :01:29.dollars stimulus programme. The vast quantities of money to kick-
:01:29. > :01:34.start the economy. That is in the value of the yen, plunging. It is a
:01:34. > :01:44.huge bonus to Japan's exporters who saw a job in sale in the as
:01:44. > :01:49.particular. -- the US. The weakening yen was a bigger threat
:01:49. > :01:53.to South Korea the North Korea. Earlier this week, some strong
:01:53. > :02:03.words from the US Treasury Secretary. He said it was important
:02:03. > :02:05.
:02:05. > :02:13.the G20 nations avoid a downward Problems over exchange rates has
:02:13. > :02:17.been a recurrent theme in the G20. At the bottom of it, it comes to my
:02:17. > :02:22.interest rates and pumping money into the financial system. It
:02:22. > :02:31.drives currency down. In the process, it gives others a
:02:31. > :02:36.competitive disadvantage. The two - - G20 discussed this about
:02:36. > :02:40.refraining devaluations. The policies are OK if they intended to
:02:40. > :02:46.stimulate weak domestic economies. When they are not getting traction,
:02:46. > :02:51.it raises concern about what is really going on. It is one attempt
:02:51. > :02:56.to gain a competitive advantage through the currency. They have
:02:56. > :03:06.been difficult episodes on this issue. It is no surprise it is
:03:06. > :03:07.
:03:07. > :03:12.being a difficult thing to bury We begin with Japan. It has been
:03:12. > :03:15.singled out for special attention on this issue of currency wars. The
:03:15. > :03:21.Finance Minister stated that its policies of printing faster amounts
:03:21. > :03:26.of money is not weakening and but is combating deflation. But the
:03:26. > :03:32.objective to that at the meeting. You need to disentangle the Rooster
:03:32. > :03:38.concepts. They want to and deflation. How do they do that?
:03:38. > :03:43.They need to import prices. But allows the currency to weaken. It
:03:43. > :03:50.is implicit. That is the issue they are trying to grapple with. A
:03:50. > :03:55.stronger Japan is good news for the global economy. But with me the
:03:55. > :04:02.currency is not advantageous. -- weakening. It raises tensions with
:04:02. > :04:05.the export rivals in the region. That wonderful or interesting quote
:04:05. > :04:11.from the South Korean finance minister. The weakening yen is more
:04:11. > :04:15.dangerous than North Korea. It is interesting. Japan has a number of
:04:15. > :04:23.competitors in of these markets, were the automotive and electronics.
:04:23. > :04:27.South Korea is the ritual one. -- regional. There are tensions been
:04:27. > :04:31.raised because of this dramatic weakening of the yen since last
:04:31. > :04:39.autumn. Those competitors are finding it difficult to be against
:04:39. > :04:44.Japan. That is the balancing we are seeing. We would like to knock see
:04:44. > :04:48.Japan singled out explicitly for that reason. The pressure is being
:04:48. > :04:55.exerted on them to refrain from excessive weakening of the yen.
:04:55. > :05:01.That is the issue. Eg 20 are prepared to go far. What do you
:05:01. > :05:05.make of those comments about people warning about beggar thy neighbour
:05:05. > :05:11.in terms of currency devaluation? He seems to be picking up China
:05:11. > :05:16.with that. There has been tension between China and the US about the
:05:16. > :05:22.devaluation of the Chinese currency. If you go back to the G20 meetings
:05:22. > :05:27.in London in Ali 2009, one of the key ideas there was about global
:05:27. > :05:31.trade and how that was diminishing. We need to see the global trade
:05:31. > :05:37.expand. That is good news for everybody in terms of a global
:05:37. > :05:43.economic recovery. Beggar my neighbour policies go against that.
:05:43. > :05:51.It is more protectionist. It is turning out to be a lively meeting.
:05:51. > :05:55.Yes, it is. Three years ago, this Saturday,
:05:55. > :05:59.BP's Deepwater Horizon brick exploded in the Gulf of Mexico,
:05:59. > :06:06.killing 11 workers and caused the worst environmental disaster in US
:06:06. > :06:11.history. Millions of gallons of oil spilled into the sea, washing off
:06:11. > :06:17.on to the coastlines of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and
:06:17. > :06:26.Texas. Three years on, the costs have been immense. Our
:06:26. > :06:31.correspondent has more. Team grew up fishing the waters
:06:31. > :06:36.around you weevil, Louisiana. After America's worst old disaster, there
:06:36. > :06:40.Winifred to catch. BP hired him to help with the clean-up. He is
:06:40. > :06:49.trying to get rid of the chemicals that he says poisoned his boat and
:06:49. > :06:56.his body. These might be contaminated. I threw everything
:06:56. > :06:59.away. Nothing left. I got rid of everything. In the last three years,
:06:59. > :07:09.he's health deteriorated from briefing the fumes from the clean-
:07:09. > :07:13.
:07:13. > :07:23.up. It is all over. I have pictures. My shoulder. Even right here. Look.
:07:23. > :07:24.
:07:24. > :07:29.Then they told you that it is skin Where did it come from? On all the
:07:29. > :07:34.coast, the impact of the Gulf oil spill continues to unfold. We
:07:34. > :07:39.travel to a place on the Mississippi Delta. One of the
:07:39. > :07:45.hardest-hit areas and where dolphins are still dying. They
:07:45. > :07:50.ended up piling up on these marshy shorelines. It killed the marsh.
:07:50. > :07:55.Although the environmental damage feared, research into the long-term
:07:55. > :08:00.effects are being carried out. mortality of them, where things
:08:00. > :08:06.like pelicans were just killed out, that is over. But there is still a
:08:06. > :08:11.tremendous amount of oil and oil by proxy the system. We do not know
:08:11. > :08:16.what those effects are. On the water, there are a few traces left
:08:16. > :08:20.of where the oil covered the area. A lot of the damage three years on
:08:20. > :08:27.from this bill is less visible, like the marshlands eroding more
:08:27. > :08:31.rapidly because of the disaster. -- oil spill. BP has spent a fortune
:08:31. > :08:36.on fuel could advertisements like this one, with some success.
:08:36. > :08:41.Tourism in the region has bounced back, as have the seafood industry.
:08:41. > :08:48.The hit to its own bottom line has been huge. It is an extraordinary
:08:48. > :08:53.place. You spend more than could $5 billion on the response and clean
:08:53. > :08:59.up assets as well as the claims paid this far. More than $14
:08:59. > :09:05.billion of that have been spent on the response and clean up. $9
:09:05. > :09:10.billion... Sorry, $11 billion of that have been spent on claims.
:09:10. > :09:15.the oil industry, the cost may be high. So are the rewards. Drilling
:09:15. > :09:19.is wrapping up in the Gulf of Mexico. For others who depend on