26/04/2013 World Business Report

to a group of judges next week but they have gone into hiding. Now

it's time for the latest business news live from Singapore. A strong

first quarter for the world's biggest economy, US GDP figures out

later could show growth of 3% as consumers start spending again.

Profits surge for Samsung as it builds on its dominance on the

smartphone market. Supply shortage has threatened to dampen the length

of the new Galaxy. -- the launch. Coming up also, more growth less

austerity, Spain's Prime Minister unveils a raft of reforms aimed at

putting the country out of recession. They could be some

positive news about the world's biggest economy later this Friday.

The US Commerce Department releases its latest estimate for growth for

the first three months of the year. Economists expect a rate of growth

of 3.2% between January and March is Americans shrug off higher taxes

and step up spending. They would be the best growth we have seen in a

year and a strong recovery from the final three months of 2012. The

economy grew 0.4%. Businesses are still cautious about investing. It

may not look like much now but in a few hours, these yards of zebra

print material will become woman's shirts. Like many US companies, key

to this manufacturer's success are the Americans buying. We sell to an

end consumer. If they cannot work, they will pay the mortgage and rent

before buying out clothing. Italy China and Canada sell -- by

their clothing. What you see here will end up here in stores across

the United States. With two-thirds of America's economy relying on

consumer spending, recent tax increases have left people with

less disposable income. I do not think people. Spending. We are

seeing strength in the jobs market. There was a pullback and the jobs

numbers but they are still positive. People will feel more confident

that they have the job or they will get one next week. They pick is

sourced from all over the world. Getting people into malls will help

this man's family businesses, but after weathering the recession, he

describes businesses with one word. Cautious. Nobody wants to step up.

Nobody wants to make a wrong move or create too much inventory.

Everybody is very cautious because there is an uneasy feeling, will be

go back into another recession. Until the US economy begins as a

strong recovery, all these workers can do is make one cut at a time.

Later this Friday, Spain will present an updated programme of

reforms to Brussels, trying to convince the European Commission is

doing enough to restructure its economy. Of and 90 measures pledged

last year, many are yet to be enacted or struggling to get

through Parliament. Others have been criticised for not going far

enough. The Prime Minister has hinted they will be a focus on

restoring growth rather than just austerity. As well as reforms to

the pension system and labour market, measures may include tax

breaks and easy credit for small businesses and to creating jobs. On

this day, Spain revealed its jobless rate hit a new record of

27%. 6 million people are out of work. Hours after the figures came,

as an to austerity protesters took to the streets in Madrid, some

clash with police and called for the government to step down. Talk

me through a little bit about these reform plane Spain is putting

forward to Brussels today? They are going to go pro-growth. They will

be some tax breaks for smaller enterprises. That will help exports

and job creation by these companies. They will could de regulation of

some of the non tradable sectors like electricity. Brazil lot of

rigidity in that the market. There could be pension reform. The

minimum contribution going up. Numerous reforms. There is labour

market reform of banking. They will not be anything major. Do you think

the reforms will work? Will they bolster investor confidence?

Investor confidence is important, on the one side, Spain does enough

to sustain growth so not to cut too fast too hard, but at the same time

to keep the creditors on side, to keep Brussels and Berlin on side.

Not to complete the deviate from the path of austerity. They will be

the challenge and that is what will make these reforms modest because

they have to play to both these audiences. Bond yields are at a

record low for Spain, the lowest for ten years? Markets are quite

happy with Spain. We have seen the spreads between Germany which has

1.2% for ten years and other countries coming down. It is

because of the liquidity and the markets from the central banks

globally. It is because the European Central Bank has provided

a safety net when it is looking less likely countries would be

leaving the eurozone or defaulting. It is a mixture of more liquidity

and a bit more confidence in the eurozone. Talking about the

unemployment number, more than a third of all unemployed people in

the eurozone are in Spain. Will these reform plans help to tackle

back? The unemployment figures are eggs -- are disastrous. They are

following the economic path. That was a bad year for Spain and that

drives up unemployment further. If you think about the 1980s under

Thatcher, they have lots of reforms but unemployment gradually came

down. Spain is the same thing, we have had massive labour market

reform last year, unemployment is shooting up, not just because of

that but it will gradually come down. The figures keep on rising

but that is worrying. More pain still to come for Spain. The

world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics has just

reported a jump in profits for the six straight quarter, it comes

after Apple Mac reported its first profits decline for a decade. When

the Galaxy goes on sale it will take a pot at the Apple turf. What

you have for us on this? It is pot shots indeed. Samsung aiming

specifically at Apple. The profits had been boosted by its smartphone

sales. The company making a net profit of $6.4 billion. Profits

also rising from the previous quarter. The results in sharp

contrast with rival Apple which reported a drop in quarterly

profits for the first time in decade. Samsung has already has

placed Apple is the world's biggest smartphone maker last year. The

smartphone division saw profits rising 55% during the first three

months of this year. Analysts sang a key factor of behind the success

of models than its rival which sells only the iPhone. On the

downside, Samsung is warning that growth in the lower end smart phone

market may slow in coming months, because other manufacturers are

also looking to get into that sector. Samsung releasing its

latest Galaxy this weekend and it is expected to further boost its

profits but it has been facing a supply crunch, Samsung is

struggling to keep up with the early orders. The battle of the