26/02/2014 World Business Report

a limited military presence. Those are the latest headlines from

BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with World Business

Report. South Africa's finance minister will

deliver his last budget before the May elections. Will it be enough to

restore faith in the economy? He promised to restore jobs in

France and today President Francois Hollande and the rest of us will

find out if he succeeded. The latest employment figures are out.

Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock. In a minute we'll

have a look at the Hong Kong budget. It has released its latest growth

numbers. South African Finance Minister

Pravin Gordhan will submit his budget to parliament today, as the

country heads towards general elections on seven May. `` May

seven. One of his tasks will be to convince credit rating agencies that

he is not about to loosen the purse strings ahead of the vote, even

though President Jacob Zuma's ANC government is under pressure to

increase social spending for millions of mainly black people who

are still in poverty, two decades after the end of white apartheid

rule. GDP figures out on Tuesday showed growth quickened in the

fourth quarter of last year, but on a year`on`year basis, it was still

only two %, well behind most other emerging economies. ``2%. Let's move

on because of all the large European economies, France is the one that's

yet to show signs of pulling itself out of the mire. One sign of

improvement today would be a fall in the official number of jobseekers.

President Hollande said he should be judged on his success at getting

more French people back to work. But the figures have gone from bad to

worse and no one's holding their breath in Paris. Well over three

million French people are actively looking for work. And with economic

growth still so sluggish, private firms are finding it hard to pay

their labour bills and rise above the latest tax increases. And as

Nigel Cassidy reports from Paris, some are giving up the fight

altogether. Another day at the office but for

these workers it may be one of their last. The direct selling beauty

company Avon has lost money for years and is now calling in a

receiver. 8000 self`employed representatives have been stood down

unless a buyer is found in days. The 127 staff may be made redundant. In

IT department, we work on old system and it will be very difficult to be

on the IT market. It is like your heart is reckoned for those people.

And of course for all of the people it will be hard to find a job

because of the situation in France because of unemployment, consumption

is low, and so on. The cost of supporting former staff won't fall

to the parent company in the US but will be added to the state welfare

bill. While neighbouring countries cut state costs, the French

parliament has loaded Moron do business in taxes, leaving firms

battling to sell off at ugly and keep staff. Wherever there is ``

unprofitably. Families are struggling to feed families and

about 200 people will visit this food bank in the centre of Paris

today. Those who can find temporary work some end up queueing for an

allowance of basic food. Outside France everyone is saying we need to

decrease our expenses. Until these considerations are taken, the

confidence of the manager and employers go back and we will hire

people and unemployment will decrease. The situation can change.

No the President has offered employers an incentive of tax

reliefs. But with taxes in France putting an extra 50% on any salary,

companies are not in the mood to take on new workers.

Were meagre those numbers in France we will update you. Let's return to

our top story. Budget day in South Africa. I am joined from the

Johannesburg bureau. What is the finance minister Pravin Gordhan

expected to say? He is not expected to be inventive because this is an

election year. He will maintain an even keel. He will show how he

managed to decrease South Africa's debt, about 35% of overall GDP. He

will show the government is accountable for massive expenditure

in social programmes. People are looking to see what the current

account deficit is doing at 6.5% of GDP. They are exporting less and

importing our lot more. The currency has to appreciate it and South

Africa is living beyond its means. There needs to be a balance,

something he needs to do. It would be great if he could give the

consumer a tax break. And give companies some kind of incentive.

But right now is not the time to do that because, as I said, it is an

election year and they want to win votes. On the one hand he wants to

win votes and please the masses, many of whom have a difficult life,

rattling with poverty, and yet credit rating agencies outside of

South Africa want to see a sharp finance minister with good

decisions. As you know, the credit rating agencies have downgraded

South Africa's outlook and credit worthiness for the year. That is

something for him to think about because it impacts on South

Africa's borrowing cost and general perceptions. `` costs. There are

discrepancies between wealthy and poor, and it is serious, becoming a

welfare state. 15% of people live on welfare grounds. That means 13% of

GDP is spent on road poor policies. That is good to win an election but

it is not if you want to be a competitive economy. South Africa be

coming competitive, they need to ensure the money the government owns

is used effectively. That is what agencies want to see. Thank you very

much. They will be keeping us up to date. It is budget day in Hong Kong.

It's one of Asia's richest cities, flush with billionaires and eye

catching skyscrapers, but Hong Kong is struggling with a growing wealth

gap. Its finance minister today presented a budget that will attempt

to address this problem at the same time the latest growth numbers were

released showing its economy grew by 2.9% in 2013. Rico Hizon is in our

Asia business hub in Singapore. Always lovely to see you. A very

important day for Hong Kong. How is this budget going down and of course

the growth numbers? You have 1.3 million, 7 million population now

living below the property loan. `` poverty line. Hence the measures to

help residents there. The government's initiatives will

continue. They will be selling residential sites to provide 16,000

units and increase housing land supply to help businesses as well,

he is set to waive stamp duty for the trading of all exchange traded

funds. On relief measures, the government will reduce the salaries

tax this year by 75%. On infrastructure, Hong Kong airport

authority will press ahead with a three runway system, costing $13

billion, but creating long`term economic development and enhance the

island's competitiveness. With these measures, the government expects the

economy to expand between 3`4%. A lot of matches put on the table to

help the residents and improve the fortunes of the city. A lot of

economic news today around the world. We have mentioned France,

South Africa and Hong Kong. The markets today are mixed will stop

Hong Kong is up slightly. GDP numbers that came out as well. Japan

is down almost half a percent. The Chinese currency will be discussed

as we look through the papers. Stay with us and they will see you soon.

`` I will. Let's take a look at the Health

Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is due to make an announcement on the future

of the Mid Staffordshire Trust, which became infamous after a report

found, what was described as appalling standards of care. Chris

King reports. It is the name which came to

symbolise everything that is wrong with the NHS, but