:00:02. > :00:12.BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with World Business
:00:12. > :00:21.
:00:21. > :00:25.Report. Japan's economy expanded at a slower pace than most analysts
:00:25. > :00:32.expected in the second quarter. So, is Prime Minister Abe's Abenomics
:00:32. > :00:36.working? And, how can a rather large hole in
:00:36. > :00:46.the ground help European growth? We travel to the Belgian town of
:00:46. > :00:48.
:00:48. > :00:53.Antwerp to find out. Welcome to World Business Report,
:00:53. > :00:56.I'm Alice Baxter. In a minute we'll go to Singapore for some very
:00:56. > :00:58.positive growth figures there. This must be music to the ears of
:00:59. > :01:01.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The country's economy grew 0.6% in
:01:01. > :01:08.April-June from the previous quarter, marking the third straight
:01:08. > :01:12.quarter of expansion. This adds to growing signs of the positive
:01:12. > :01:16.effects of Mr Abe's reflationary policies are spreading. However it
:01:16. > :01:22.may not e as rosy as it first seem, the increase was smaller than the
:01:22. > :01:29.average market forecast of 0.9%. If we recalculate the numbers to an
:01:29. > :01:32.annual figure we land at 2.6%, that too is lower than forecast. All this
:01:32. > :01:36.adds to the debate over whether Japan is strong enough to sustain a
:01:36. > :01:45.planned 3% bump in its sales tax to 8% next April, the Prime Minister
:01:46. > :01:48.deciding in the coming moths whether to proceed. Masayuki Kichikawa is
:01:48. > :01:57.Chief Japan Economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and he joins
:01:57. > :02:07.me now from our Tokyo studio. Thank you the journey in the programme. Is
:02:07. > :02:07.
:02:07. > :02:13.Abenomics working? Yes, I think it is working, consumption is going
:02:13. > :02:19.solid. It is supported by higher asset prices. There has been income
:02:19. > :02:29.growth. The most important pieces information released today is the
:02:29. > :02:37.fact that employee compensation has begun increasing. This is the
:02:37. > :02:45.highest normals -- nominal increase since 2008. This number means that
:02:45. > :02:49.it is functioning. Looking into the data closer now, we see that the men
:02:49. > :02:54.contributed to the growth in Japan in the past quarter are from public
:02:54. > :03:00.spending and exports. That is in spite of the weaker yen. Private
:03:00. > :03:10.investment weakened. Money spent by private companies.
:03:10. > :03:10.
:03:10. > :03:17.That is true. Probably the weakest part was the spending decreasing.
:03:17. > :03:27.Usually it takes about half a year or a year for that to begin
:03:27. > :03:28.
:03:28. > :03:36.increasing. We are not pessimistic about the numbers. We can expect it
:03:36. > :03:46.to begin growing in the near future. Of course, the recovery we have seen
:03:46. > :03:55.in exports, but has been a great success. Do we expect that trend to
:03:55. > :03:59.continue? Yes, it will heavily depend upon the economy. The outlook
:03:59. > :04:06.for the US economy and Asian economies, especially south-east
:04:06. > :04:11.Asian countries, is not very bad. Economies in these regions are
:04:11. > :04:18.likely to completely grow, even in the next year. With the impact of
:04:18. > :04:23.the cheaper yen, we can expect the export growth to support economic
:04:23. > :04:28.growth in Japan. Thank you. The countries of the Euro currency
:04:28. > :04:32.zone may have shown some early signs of recovery. But have they really
:04:32. > :04:35.reached a turning point? We should find out this week when we get to
:04:35. > :04:38.see the latest growth figures for the entire eurozone. We know things
:04:39. > :04:42.are dire in Southern Europe. But is business in the North still under
:04:42. > :04:45.water? Our Europe business correspondent reports now from
:04:45. > :04:48.Belgium, and the Port of Antwerp, which is betting billions on a new
:04:48. > :04:58.riverside gateway to improve its position as an inland logistics hub
:04:58. > :05:03.
:05:03. > :05:09.serving 140 million Europeans. It is the third of a mile long, and as
:05:09. > :05:15.wide as eight 19 lane motorway. This will become the world's biggest
:05:15. > :05:20.loss, bring the next generation of container ships into the heart of
:05:20. > :05:24.Europe. This investment is going against the tide in a country where
:05:24. > :05:33.business credit is tight and that banks are still licking their
:05:33. > :05:37.wounds. This store is building on the position as the continent's main
:05:37. > :05:43.fruit bought. The quality of the imports is not in doubt. Export
:05:43. > :05:50.growth may be limited. We are holding up for when the new lock is
:05:50. > :05:57.ready. We believe much more accessible. -- we will be much more
:05:57. > :06:02.accessible. We are exporting a la things. The vessels are full and
:06:02. > :06:07.they leave here. It is all a big bet on the kind of trade that Belgium
:06:07. > :06:16.could attract. Behind me here is a huge dock. We have lots of
:06:16. > :06:22.containers. We also see old cars, new cars. It is growing
:06:23. > :06:29.tremendously. Some products are no longer route produced here on the
:06:29. > :06:37.European continent. They are important. 100 years ago, Antwerp
:06:37. > :06:45.could the Titanic. By the 1960s, many felt this port, with his tides
:06:45. > :06:50.of up to seven metres, had reached its limit. Thanks to recession,
:06:50. > :06:59.lusty's work was 1.5% down. Super-size in the port may help the
:06:59. > :07:03.country get a bigger share of world trade. It will be essential if
:07:03. > :07:06.Europe's sixth-largest economy is to deliver better results.
:07:06. > :07:09.And as we await those all important GDP numbers this week, Nigel Cassidy
:07:09. > :07:11.moves across the border to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where he finds a
:07:11. > :07:21.burst housing bubble is damaging personal and bank credit-worthiness
:07:21. > :07:22.
:07:22. > :07:24.and holding back the recovery. Singapore's economy grew at a
:07:24. > :07:29.better-than-expected pace in the second quarter and the government
:07:29. > :07:33.raised the city-state's outlook for the year. Sharanjit Leyl is right
:07:33. > :07:43.there in our Asia business hub. Sharanjit, you are in the right
:07:43. > :07:44.
:07:44. > :07:53.place, tell us more. That is right. Singapore's economy
:07:53. > :07:58.is quite unlike Japan, it grew more than expended, expanding 15.5%.
:07:58. > :08:02.Economists expected just 14% growth. Quite staggering numbers. Last week,
:08:02. > :08:08.Singapore's prime minister rose the full-year outlook. He said the
:08:08. > :08:14.country was growing well despite global uncertainties. There is a
:08:14. > :08:19.downside. The forecast for exports has been lower down. That has been
:08:19. > :08:24.blamed on slowing expansion in China. In June, Singapore's exports
:08:24. > :08:30.saw their longest run of declines since the GST. Electronic exports
:08:30. > :08:34.slumped. Many nations in the region have seen exports as low as growth
:08:34. > :08:39.starts to slow down in China. The Singapore dollar strengthened
:08:39. > :08:44.against the US dollar, following August news. We know that the
:08:44. > :08:49.central bank of Singapore have been allowing gradual gains in the
:08:49. > :08:54.Singapore dollar. It is a way of tweaking inflation, since most of
:08:54. > :08:58.the food and goods are imported. We did see the rise in outlook. Still a
:08:58. > :09:02.lot of challenges ahead. Thank you.
:09:02. > :09:07.In other news: Most big financial firms will have to set a target for
:09:07. > :09:12.the number of women on their board of directors from 2014. The rules
:09:12. > :09:14.are part of a binding European Union Directive. As well as setting a
:09:14. > :09:23.target, big banks, building societies and investment firms will
:09:23. > :09:26.also have to explain how they are going to meet their goal.
:09:26. > :09:29.Billionaire inventor Elon Musk will reveal the alpha design behind his
:09:29. > :09:33.Hyperloop rapid transit system later today. It's been described as a
:09:33. > :09:36.cross between a Concorde and a rail gun and an air hockey table. The
:09:36. > :09:39.scheme, first announced in July 2012, could enable travel below or
:09:39. > :09:49.above ground at over 685mph involving a pod about two metres
:09:49. > :09:52.