Browse content similar to 12/08/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with World Business | :00:02. | :00:12. | |
:00:12. | :00:21. | ||
Report. Japan's economy expanded at a slower pace than most analysts | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
expected in the second quarter. So, is Prime Minister Abe's Abenomics | :00:25. | :00:32. | |
working? And, how can a rather large hole in | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
the ground help European growth? We travel to the Belgian town of | :00:36. | :00:46. | |
:00:46. | :00:48. | ||
Antwerp to find out. Welcome to World Business Report, | :00:48. | :00:53. | |
I'm Alice Baxter. In a minute we'll go to Singapore for some very | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
positive growth figures there. This must be music to the ears of | :00:56. | :00:58. | |
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The country's economy grew 0.6% in | :00:59. | :01:01. | |
April-June from the previous quarter, marking the third straight | :01:01. | :01:08. | |
quarter of expansion. This adds to growing signs of the positive | :01:08. | :01:12. | |
effects of Mr Abe's reflationary policies are spreading. However it | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
may not e as rosy as it first seem, the increase was smaller than the | :01:16. | :01:22. | |
average market forecast of 0.9%. If we recalculate the numbers to an | :01:22. | :01:29. | |
annual figure we land at 2.6%, that too is lower than forecast. All this | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
adds to the debate over whether Japan is strong enough to sustain a | :01:32. | :01:36. | |
planned 3% bump in its sales tax to 8% next April, the Prime Minister | :01:36. | :01:45. | |
deciding in the coming moths whether to proceed. Masayuki Kichikawa is | :01:46. | :01:48. | |
Chief Japan Economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and he joins | :01:48. | :01:57. | |
me now from our Tokyo studio. Thank you the journey in the programme. Is | :01:57. | :02:07. | |
:02:07. | :02:07. | ||
Abenomics working? Yes, I think it is working, consumption is going | :02:07. | :02:13. | |
solid. It is supported by higher asset prices. There has been income | :02:13. | :02:19. | |
growth. The most important pieces information released today is the | :02:19. | :02:29. | |
fact that employee compensation has begun increasing. This is the | :02:29. | :02:37. | |
highest normals -- nominal increase since 2008. This number means that | :02:37. | :02:45. | |
it is functioning. Looking into the data closer now, we see that the men | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
contributed to the growth in Japan in the past quarter are from public | :02:49. | :02:54. | |
spending and exports. That is in spite of the weaker yen. Private | :02:54. | :03:00. | |
investment weakened. Money spent by private companies. | :03:00. | :03:10. | |
:03:10. | :03:10. | ||
That is true. Probably the weakest part was the spending decreasing. | :03:10. | :03:17. | |
Usually it takes about half a year or a year for that to begin | :03:17. | :03:27. | |
:03:27. | :03:28. | ||
increasing. We are not pessimistic about the numbers. We can expect it | :03:28. | :03:36. | |
to begin growing in the near future. Of course, the recovery we have seen | :03:36. | :03:46. | |
in exports, but has been a great success. Do we expect that trend to | :03:46. | :03:55. | |
continue? Yes, it will heavily depend upon the economy. The outlook | :03:55. | :03:59. | |
for the US economy and Asian economies, especially south-east | :03:59. | :04:06. | |
Asian countries, is not very bad. Economies in these regions are | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
likely to completely grow, even in the next year. With the impact of | :04:11. | :04:18. | |
the cheaper yen, we can expect the export growth to support economic | :04:18. | :04:23. | |
growth in Japan. Thank you. The countries of the Euro currency | :04:23. | :04:28. | |
zone may have shown some early signs of recovery. But have they really | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
reached a turning point? We should find out this week when we get to | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
see the latest growth figures for the entire eurozone. We know things | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
are dire in Southern Europe. But is business in the North still under | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
water? Our Europe business correspondent reports now from | :04:42. | :04:45. | |
Belgium, and the Port of Antwerp, which is betting billions on a new | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
riverside gateway to improve its position as an inland logistics hub | :04:48. | :04:58. | |
:04:58. | :05:03. | ||
serving 140 million Europeans. It is the third of a mile long, and as | :05:03. | :05:09. | |
wide as eight 19 lane motorway. This will become the world's biggest | :05:09. | :05:15. | |
loss, bring the next generation of container ships into the heart of | :05:15. | :05:20. | |
Europe. This investment is going against the tide in a country where | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
business credit is tight and that banks are still licking their | :05:24. | :05:33. | |
wounds. This store is building on the position as the continent's main | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
fruit bought. The quality of the imports is not in doubt. Export | :05:37. | :05:43. | |
growth may be limited. We are holding up for when the new lock is | :05:43. | :05:50. | |
ready. We believe much more accessible. -- we will be much more | :05:50. | :05:57. | |
accessible. We are exporting a la things. The vessels are full and | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
they leave here. It is all a big bet on the kind of trade that Belgium | :06:02. | :06:07. | |
could attract. Behind me here is a huge dock. We have lots of | :06:07. | :06:16. | |
containers. We also see old cars, new cars. It is growing | :06:16. | :06:22. | |
tremendously. Some products are no longer route produced here on the | :06:23. | :06:29. | |
European continent. They are important. 100 years ago, Antwerp | :06:29. | :06:37. | |
could the Titanic. By the 1960s, many felt this port, with his tides | :06:37. | :06:45. | |
of up to seven metres, had reached its limit. Thanks to recession, | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
lusty's work was 1.5% down. Super-size in the port may help the | :06:50. | :06:59. | |
country get a bigger share of world trade. It will be essential if | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
Europe's sixth-largest economy is to deliver better results. | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
And as we await those all important GDP numbers this week, Nigel Cassidy | :07:06. | :07:09. | |
moves across the border to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where he finds a | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
burst housing bubble is damaging personal and bank credit-worthiness | :07:11. | :07:21. | |
:07:21. | :07:22. | ||
and holding back the recovery. Singapore's economy grew at a | :07:22. | :07:24. | |
better-than-expected pace in the second quarter and the government | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
raised the city-state's outlook for the year. Sharanjit Leyl is right | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
there in our Asia business hub. Sharanjit, you are in the right | :07:33. | :07:43. | |
:07:43. | :07:44. | ||
place, tell us more. That is right. Singapore's economy | :07:44. | :07:53. | |
is quite unlike Japan, it grew more than expended, expanding 15.5%. | :07:53. | :07:58. | |
Economists expected just 14% growth. Quite staggering numbers. Last week, | :07:58. | :08:02. | |
Singapore's prime minister rose the full-year outlook. He said the | :08:02. | :08:08. | |
country was growing well despite global uncertainties. There is a | :08:08. | :08:14. | |
downside. The forecast for exports has been lower down. That has been | :08:14. | :08:19. | |
blamed on slowing expansion in China. In June, Singapore's exports | :08:19. | :08:24. | |
saw their longest run of declines since the GST. Electronic exports | :08:24. | :08:30. | |
slumped. Many nations in the region have seen exports as low as growth | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
starts to slow down in China. The Singapore dollar strengthened | :08:34. | :08:39. | |
against the US dollar, following August news. We know that the | :08:39. | :08:44. | |
central bank of Singapore have been allowing gradual gains in the | :08:44. | :08:49. | |
Singapore dollar. It is a way of tweaking inflation, since most of | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
the food and goods are imported. We did see the rise in outlook. Still a | :08:54. | :08:58. | |
lot of challenges ahead. Thank you. | :08:58. | :09:02. | |
In other news: Most big financial firms will have to set a target for | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
the number of women on their board of directors from 2014. The rules | :09:07. | :09:12. | |
are part of a binding European Union Directive. As well as setting a | :09:12. | :09:14. | |
target, big banks, building societies and investment firms will | :09:14. | :09:23. | |
also have to explain how they are going to meet their goal. | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
Billionaire inventor Elon Musk will reveal the alpha design behind his | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
Hyperloop rapid transit system later today. It's been described as a | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
cross between a Concorde and a rail gun and an air hockey table. The | :09:33. | :09:36. | |
scheme, first announced in July 2012, could enable travel below or | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
above ground at over 685mph involving a pod about two metres | :09:39. | :09:49. | |
:09:49. | :09:52. |