:00:17. > :00:21.to a group of judges next week but they have gone into hiding. Now
:00:21. > :00:26.it's time for the latest business news live from Singapore. A strong
:00:27. > :00:34.first quarter for the world's biggest economy, US GDP figures out
:00:34. > :00:38.later could show growth of 3% as consumers start spending again.
:00:38. > :00:44.Profits surge for Samsung as it builds on its dominance on the
:00:44. > :00:54.smartphone market. Supply shortage has threatened to dampen the length
:00:54. > :00:57.
:00:57. > :01:02.of the new Galaxy. -- the launch. Coming up also, more growth less
:01:02. > :01:07.austerity, Spain's Prime Minister unveils a raft of reforms aimed at
:01:07. > :01:12.putting the country out of recession. They could be some
:01:12. > :01:17.positive news about the world's biggest economy later this Friday.
:01:17. > :01:22.The US Commerce Department releases its latest estimate for growth for
:01:22. > :01:27.the first three months of the year. Economists expect a rate of growth
:01:27. > :01:32.of 3.2% between January and March is Americans shrug off higher taxes
:01:32. > :01:36.and step up spending. They would be the best growth we have seen in a
:01:36. > :01:46.year and a strong recovery from the final three months of 2012. The
:01:46. > :01:46.
:01:46. > :01:53.economy grew 0.4%. Businesses are still cautious about investing. It
:01:53. > :02:00.may not look like much now but in a few hours, these yards of zebra
:02:00. > :02:05.print material will become woman's shirts. Like many US companies, key
:02:05. > :02:11.to this manufacturer's success are the Americans buying. We sell to an
:02:11. > :02:19.end consumer. If they cannot work, they will pay the mortgage and rent
:02:19. > :02:24.before buying out clothing. Italy China and Canada sell -- by
:02:24. > :02:30.their clothing. What you see here will end up here in stores across
:02:30. > :02:34.the United States. With two-thirds of America's economy relying on
:02:34. > :02:40.consumer spending, recent tax increases have left people with
:02:40. > :02:47.less disposable income. I do not think people. Spending. We are
:02:47. > :02:51.seeing strength in the jobs market. There was a pullback and the jobs
:02:51. > :02:55.numbers but they are still positive. People will feel more confident
:02:55. > :03:00.that they have the job or they will get one next week. They pick is
:03:00. > :03:07.sourced from all over the world. Getting people into malls will help
:03:07. > :03:14.this man's family businesses, but after weathering the recession, he
:03:14. > :03:19.describes businesses with one word. Cautious. Nobody wants to step up.
:03:19. > :03:24.Nobody wants to make a wrong move or create too much inventory.
:03:24. > :03:29.Everybody is very cautious because there is an uneasy feeling, will be
:03:30. > :03:38.go back into another recession. Until the US economy begins as a
:03:38. > :03:43.strong recovery, all these workers can do is make one cut at a time.
:03:43. > :03:47.Later this Friday, Spain will present an updated programme of
:03:47. > :03:52.reforms to Brussels, trying to convince the European Commission is
:03:52. > :03:56.doing enough to restructure its economy. Of and 90 measures pledged
:03:56. > :03:59.last year, many are yet to be enacted or struggling to get
:03:59. > :04:04.through Parliament. Others have been criticised for not going far
:04:04. > :04:08.enough. The Prime Minister has hinted they will be a focus on
:04:08. > :04:12.restoring growth rather than just austerity. As well as reforms to
:04:12. > :04:16.the pension system and labour market, measures may include tax
:04:16. > :04:22.breaks and easy credit for small businesses and to creating jobs. On
:04:22. > :04:30.this day, Spain revealed its jobless rate hit a new record of
:04:30. > :04:34.27%. 6 million people are out of work. Hours after the figures came,
:04:35. > :04:41.as an to austerity protesters took to the streets in Madrid, some
:04:41. > :04:45.clash with police and called for the government to step down. Talk
:04:45. > :04:51.me through a little bit about these reform plane Spain is putting
:04:51. > :04:56.forward to Brussels today? They are going to go pro-growth. They will
:04:56. > :05:01.be some tax breaks for smaller enterprises. That will help exports
:05:01. > :05:08.and job creation by these companies. They will could de regulation of
:05:08. > :05:13.some of the non tradable sectors like electricity. Brazil lot of
:05:13. > :05:18.rigidity in that the market. There could be pension reform. The
:05:18. > :05:26.minimum contribution going up. Numerous reforms. There is labour
:05:26. > :05:31.market reform of banking. They will not be anything major. Do you think
:05:31. > :05:36.the reforms will work? Will they bolster investor confidence?
:05:36. > :05:43.Investor confidence is important, on the one side, Spain does enough
:05:43. > :05:49.to sustain growth so not to cut too fast too hard, but at the same time
:05:49. > :05:53.to keep the creditors on side, to keep Brussels and Berlin on side.
:05:53. > :05:58.Not to complete the deviate from the path of austerity. They will be
:05:58. > :06:02.the challenge and that is what will make these reforms modest because
:06:02. > :06:09.they have to play to both these audiences. Bond yields are at a
:06:09. > :06:15.record low for Spain, the lowest for ten years? Markets are quite
:06:15. > :06:20.happy with Spain. We have seen the spreads between Germany which has
:06:20. > :06:23.1.2% for ten years and other countries coming down. It is
:06:23. > :06:27.because of the liquidity and the markets from the central banks
:06:27. > :06:32.globally. It is because the European Central Bank has provided
:06:32. > :06:36.a safety net when it is looking less likely countries would be
:06:36. > :06:42.leaving the eurozone or defaulting. It is a mixture of more liquidity
:06:42. > :06:47.and a bit more confidence in the eurozone. Talking about the
:06:48. > :06:52.unemployment number, more than a third of all unemployed people in
:06:52. > :06:58.the eurozone are in Spain. Will these reform plans help to tackle
:06:58. > :07:03.back? The unemployment figures are eggs -- are disastrous. They are
:07:03. > :07:09.following the economic path. That was a bad year for Spain and that
:07:09. > :07:16.drives up unemployment further. If you think about the 1980s under
:07:16. > :07:22.Thatcher, they have lots of reforms but unemployment gradually came
:07:22. > :07:26.down. Spain is the same thing, we have had massive labour market
:07:26. > :07:31.reform last year, unemployment is shooting up, not just because of
:07:31. > :07:41.that but it will gradually come down. The figures keep on rising
:07:41. > :07:41.
:07:42. > :07:46.but that is worrying. More pain still to come for Spain. The
:07:46. > :07:51.world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics has just
:07:51. > :07:58.reported a jump in profits for the six straight quarter, it comes
:07:58. > :08:08.after Apple Mac reported its first profits decline for a decade. When
:08:08. > :08:09.
:08:09. > :08:18.the Galaxy goes on sale it will take a pot at the Apple turf. What
:08:18. > :08:24.you have for us on this? It is pot shots indeed. Samsung aiming
:08:24. > :08:30.specifically at Apple. The profits had been boosted by its smartphone
:08:30. > :08:35.sales. The company making a net profit of $6.4 billion. Profits
:08:35. > :08:39.also rising from the previous quarter. The results in sharp
:08:39. > :08:44.contrast with rival Apple which reported a drop in quarterly
:08:44. > :08:48.profits for the first time in decade. Samsung has already has
:08:48. > :08:54.placed Apple is the world's biggest smartphone maker last year. The
:08:54. > :08:59.smartphone division saw profits rising 55% during the first three
:08:59. > :09:08.months of this year. Analysts sang a key factor of behind the success
:09:08. > :09:13.of models than its rival which sells only the iPhone. On the
:09:13. > :09:17.downside, Samsung is warning that growth in the lower end smart phone
:09:17. > :09:22.market may slow in coming months, because other manufacturers are
:09:22. > :09:26.also looking to get into that sector. Samsung releasing its
:09:26. > :09:30.latest Galaxy this weekend and it is expected to further boost its
:09:30. > :09:36.profits but it has been facing a supply crunch, Samsung is
:09:36. > :09:43.struggling to keep up with the early orders. The battle of the