:00:00. > :00:00.BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with World Business
:00:00. > :00:20.Report. While Ukraine promises to adopt
:00:21. > :00:23.measures needed to steady an economy beset by a plunging currency and
:00:24. > :00:24.widening budget deficits, the IMF begins negotiations to develop an
:00:25. > :00:33.economic reform programme. Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg,
:00:34. > :00:36.complains to President Obama over allegations of damage caused by the
:00:37. > :00:49.U.S. Government's surveillance programmes.
:00:50. > :00:58.Welcome to World Business Report. In a minute we'll be looking at why the
:00:59. > :01:01.Asian markets have dropped to a one month low. But first: 'The new
:01:02. > :01:03.Ukrainian government is ready to deliver changes'. Those were the
:01:04. > :01:06.words of the Ukrainian Prime Minister as he sought financial aid
:01:07. > :01:08.from Western donors in Washington this week, including President
:01:09. > :01:16.Barack Obama and Christine Lagarde, managing director of the
:01:17. > :01:18.International Monetary Fund. Arseniy Yatsenyuk promised he'd adopt
:01:19. > :01:22.measures needed to steady an economy beset by a plunging currency and
:01:23. > :01:26.widening budget deficits. But it could all take quite some time.
:01:27. > :01:29.Economists say the problems run deep in Ukraine, a country still dealing
:01:30. > :01:37.with the legacy of its Soviet past ,as it tries to embrace trade
:01:38. > :01:47.opportunities beyond Russia. Ukrainian officials say the country
:01:48. > :01:50.is nearing bankruptcy. Christine Lagarde says the IMF team that went
:01:51. > :01:53.on a mission to Ukraine to gather data about the government's finances
:01:54. > :01:56.on March fourth and was expected to conclude today, will now remain
:01:57. > :02:00.until March 21st. They're expected to call for reforms as a condition
:02:01. > :02:03.of any long-term aid. President Barack Obama's promised $1 billion
:02:04. > :02:06.in loan guarantees to Ukraine is not expected to be approved by Congress
:02:07. > :02:08.for some time, while House Republicans are pushing their own
:02:09. > :02:19.aid bill that includes no Russia sanctions or IMF provisions. So,
:02:20. > :02:24.let's look at this internal wrangling and the delays. How much
:02:25. > :02:31.money could Ukraine need and what strings will be attached to any
:02:32. > :02:34.IMF-led bailout? In a moment we'll speak to a regional economy expert
:02:35. > :02:44.but here's what the IMF said earlier. Under the reform, Ukraine's
:02:45. > :02:51.quota would increase so that, potentially, its access to IMF
:02:52. > :03:00.resources would also increase, other things being equal. I want to add to
:03:01. > :03:06.that the caveat that quotas are just one relevant metric in terms of
:03:07. > :03:13.overall potential financing packages. It is contingent on a
:03:14. > :03:19.number of other considerations - balance of trade, finances. IMF
:03:20. > :03:22.support is widely seen as critical to Kiev's finances and to getting
:03:23. > :03:31.its economy on a growth track.With me is Lilit Gevorgyan, Senior
:03:32. > :03:40.Economist at IHS Global Insight. Would you describe the Ukrainian
:03:41. > :03:44.economy as near bankruptcy? Their international currency reserves are
:03:45. > :03:48.running low. They have only two months import coverage which is
:03:49. > :03:51.already a worrying sign. The government itself has admitted that
:03:52. > :04:01.they desperately need to save the economy from the abyss. They need
:04:02. > :04:05.$35 billion to be able to save the economy. If they did not get this
:04:06. > :04:10.assistance, they have a current account deficit, a budget deficit,
:04:11. > :04:16.both are very high and they do not have any other means of raising
:04:17. > :04:25.capital on international markets. I can sense you about to say but. Is
:04:26. > :04:29.an IMF bailout the answer? What strings would be attached to such a
:04:30. > :04:35.bailout and would that be good for Ukraine in the long run? It will be
:04:36. > :04:40.good in the long run but not in the short term, in the sense that it
:04:41. > :04:47.will create much more difficult situation for households. Private
:04:48. > :04:52.consumption has been the driving force of GDP growth for many
:04:53. > :04:56.quarters now. The IMF austerity measures will actually hope this
:04:57. > :05:00.private consumption. That means that if the IMF introduces austerity
:05:01. > :05:07.measures with the help of the government, this would include an
:05:08. > :05:11.increase of the domestic gas price. The currency will continue to
:05:12. > :05:16.weaken, which would make imports more expensive, hence eroding
:05:17. > :05:24.household disposable income. These are issues that put further
:05:25. > :05:31.instability in the country. It is already struggling, and has already
:05:32. > :05:33.serious issues in eastern Ukraine. This is a fractious coalition
:05:34. > :05:41.government which has yet to gain control over the whole country. If
:05:42. > :05:46.you mix this economic solution with the political situation, you can see
:05:47. > :05:52.that it is quite dangerous in terms of the political situation. I do
:05:53. > :05:57.think that, in the short term, it may create some problems but in the
:05:58. > :06:03.long-term it will rebalance the Ukrainian economy which is
:06:04. > :06:16.necessary. Short-term pain for long-term gain. Thank you.
:06:17. > :06:20.The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has accused the US
:06:21. > :06:23.government of damaging the future of the internet. He said the government
:06:24. > :06:27.should be a champion of the web, not a threat and said he had called
:06:28. > :06:29.President Obama to appeal for more transparency. Secret documents
:06:30. > :06:32.published earlier suggest that the US National Security Agency had
:06:33. > :06:38.impersonated Facebook web pages in order to tap into computers and
:06:39. > :06:44.gather information. From New York here's Samira Hussain to explain the
:06:45. > :06:48.background. The US government surveillance
:06:49. > :06:53.practices are part of a big public debate here in the United States in
:06:54. > :06:58.terms of how much the government is looking into people 's information.
:06:59. > :07:02.That debate is quite pronounced in Silicon Valley. The companies they
:07:03. > :07:07.feel that the reach of the US government is actually eroding their
:07:08. > :07:13.relationship with consumers and companies. The open letter that we
:07:14. > :07:20.are seeing from Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, is a reaction
:07:21. > :07:23.to reports that have just been released suggesting that the
:07:24. > :07:33.national security agency, America's spy agency, has been installing
:07:34. > :07:37.malware onto certain computers. They then have access to individual hard
:07:38. > :07:45.drives. It turns out that the way to get people to install the programme,
:07:46. > :07:51.in some instances, the use a masked Facebook site to be able to
:07:52. > :07:54.accomplish that. When those reports have emerged, at UC Mark Zuckerberg
:07:55. > :08:00.calling President Obama and revealing that conversation in an
:08:01. > :08:07.open letter. He highlights how important it is to maintain privacy
:08:08. > :08:13.and this is really a big debate that is happening here. That said, it
:08:14. > :08:21.comes at a time when people are discussing privacy in terms of
:08:22. > :08:24.social media. Let's turn to the markets. Asian
:08:25. > :08:32.shares have dropped to a one-month low as the Ukraine crisis has had an
:08:33. > :08:40.impact across the globe. Sharanjit Leyl joins me from Singapore.
:08:41. > :08:47.You see the indicator down over 3%. Losses in Hong Kong and Australia as
:08:48. > :08:54.well. The yen is rising against the US dollar. That means a sell-off in
:08:55. > :08:57.shares in Tokyo. You mention tensions in Ukraine. This is ahead
:08:58. > :09:09.of the weekend 's referendum in Crimea. Investors are avoiding
:09:10. > :09:13.riskier assets and trillions of dollars have been wiped off global
:09:14. > :09:19.markets. This uncertainty has meant a flight to safe havens like he
:09:20. > :09:29.began. Gold has risen to a six-month high. -- the yen. There are also
:09:30. > :09:33.concerns about China's economy faltering.
:09:34. > :09:46.Let's have a quick look at the numbers.
:09:47. > :10:09.I will be back for a look at the papers in just a moment.
:10:10. > :10:18.Little bit more news from the UK. Severely ill patients could be given
:10:19. > :10:20.new medicines years before they are licensed under new regulations. The
:10:21. > :10:21.Early Access to