:00:00. > :00:00.BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with World Business
:00:00. > :00:18.Report. A controversial hike in sales tax
:00:19. > :00:25.hits shoppers in Japan today, but will it help or hinder the economy?
:00:26. > :00:28.In the hot seat, Mary Barra the CEO of General Motors faces a grilling
:00:29. > :00:37.on Capital Hill about the car maker's fatal mistakes.
:00:38. > :00:42.Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the
:00:43. > :00:48.programme, markets wobble in Asia as the latest news on manufacturing in
:00:49. > :00:53.China is released. Rico Hizon in Singapore will have the details for
:00:54. > :01:08.us. Today is the 1st of April and the start of a new financial year in
:01:09. > :01:11.Japan. Continued weakness in China's manufacturing sector. The
:01:12. > :01:14.government's purchasing managers index shows slight growth in March
:01:15. > :01:18.but a separate survey by HSBC shows a fall in activity. To make sense of
:01:19. > :01:21.the numbers lets go to our Asia business hub and speak to Rico
:01:22. > :01:28.Hizon. Tell us more about this latest news from China.
:01:29. > :01:33.Disappointing economic reports from the mainland and if you speak to
:01:34. > :01:36.economists, they see this report implies that the first quarter of
:01:37. > :01:45.economic growth numbers will likely fall below the 7.5% rate that
:01:46. > :01:50.Chinese leaders have targeted, and we will know the whole picture when
:01:51. > :01:59.the growth numbers from January to March are released in about two
:02:00. > :02:02.weeks. Economists and largely expect the government to take steps to
:02:03. > :02:09.boost the economy but most have ruled out a stimulus package at this
:02:10. > :02:16.point. Last week we had the Chinese premier reassuring global investors
:02:17. > :02:21.that Beijing was indeed ready to support the economy saying they had
:02:22. > :02:28.the necessary policies in place to kick`start slowing growth. The
:02:29. > :02:32.mounting science of financial risk have seen the mainland's growth
:02:33. > :02:37.outlook on top of government action, even a mini stimulus initiative to
:02:38. > :02:42.shore up growth, and among these measures are speeding up basic
:02:43. > :02:47.construction of infrastructure including railways and highways and
:02:48. > :02:51.water conservation projects in central and western China, as well
:02:52. > :02:59.as boosting trade and cutting financing costs, so we are hoping we
:03:00. > :03:04.will see this stimulus initiative being put into place sooner rather
:03:05. > :03:09.than later to support this economic growth that China wants to keep at
:03:10. > :03:15.7.5%. We will have to wait and see if this is implemented. Hull have
:03:16. > :03:19.the markets reacted? From my point of view I see a slight shift in
:03:20. > :03:28.sentiment but no major reaction? Absolutely. When the producing index
:03:29. > :03:37.came out we saw a rise in markets particularly Australian, but when it
:03:38. > :03:43.came out below 50, just above 40, a contraction in factory output, we
:03:44. > :03:47.saw sentiment shift back into negative territory, so at this point
:03:48. > :03:51.many investors are trying to digests what will really happen to the
:03:52. > :03:59.Chinese economy going forward, and they are basically looking, the
:04:00. > :04:03.Chinese premier and his leadership, to try to put in place a stimulus
:04:04. > :04:11.initiative to support the mainland economy. So that it does not fall
:04:12. > :04:16.below the 7.5% benchmark we are looking at for this year. Thank you
:04:17. > :04:26.very much indeed. We will see you again soon. General
:04:27. > :04:29.Motors' chief executive Mary Barra will tell Congress the car maker
:04:30. > :04:33.plans to do the right thing when she answers questions about why it took
:04:34. > :04:35.so long to recall cars with faulty ignition switches. Her appearance on
:04:36. > :04:39.Capitol Hill comes as GM recalled another one point three million cars
:04:40. > :04:41.to fix power steering issues. And as Michelle Fleury reports from
:04:42. > :04:49.Washington, its not just lawmakers who want answers. So do the families
:04:50. > :04:54.who've lost loved ones. Amber and marry was 16 when she died in a
:04:55. > :05:04.crash in 2005 in a General Motors car. This woman was 19 when she
:05:05. > :05:07.passed away in 2009. For the families, the young age makes the
:05:08. > :05:14.loss even harder to be aired and many of the victims are General
:05:15. > :05:21.Motors were first`time buyers. I never got to say goodbye or touch
:05:22. > :05:31.her hand. There's just all confirms everything. The pain I have been
:05:32. > :05:35.going through. For them, General Motors's recall of the cars is not
:05:36. > :05:41.enough. They want these vehicles off the road so nobody else is at risk.
:05:42. > :05:48.It's got to stop now. No more deaths and fatalities. These are young
:05:49. > :05:57.people, our future who wanted a gay life. `` great life. What do you
:05:58. > :06:03.want to hear when she testifies before Congress? We want answers, we
:06:04. > :06:07.want to know what happened, and I want to know specifically how they
:06:08. > :06:10.can prevent this from happening again. Any statement the company
:06:11. > :06:32.said... This is for her, for all of our
:06:33. > :06:35.children. We are here for them, and for us, but we are representing them
:06:36. > :06:42.because they cannot represent themselves. When the General Motors
:06:43. > :06:48.Bourse testifies before Congress, she will apologise to the families
:06:49. > :06:53.who have lost loved ones in crashes linked to faulty ignition switches,
:06:54. > :06:56.but the all General Motors has promised to do the right thing, for
:06:57. > :06:59.them it is too little, too late. And we'll be across Mary Barra's
:07:00. > :07:16.appearance in Congress for you on BBC World News later. Today is the
:07:17. > :07:22.1st of April and the start of the new Japanese financial year. It also
:07:23. > :07:26.marks a rise in the country's sales tax. Until now it has been 5%, but
:07:27. > :07:29.as of today Japanese people will feel a substantial hit in their
:07:30. > :07:32.pockets as it goes up to 8%. It's hoped the move will stem Japan's
:07:33. > :07:36.public debt which is the highest in the developed world. It is the first
:07:37. > :07:39.change in sales tax there for 17 years. And the last time Japan
:07:40. > :07:42.increased its sales tax the country fell into recession, and there are
:07:43. > :07:44.fears this latest move will put off domestic shoppers, hurt growth and
:07:45. > :07:50.derail prime minister Abe's ambitious plans to boost the
:07:51. > :07:55.Japanese economy. Let's get a view on this from Doctor Seijiro
:07:56. > :08:01.Takeshita, who runs the British arm of Japan's Mizuho. Tell us your
:08:02. > :08:07.thoughts on how effective this tax will be on tackling the issues faced
:08:08. > :08:10.by the Japanese economy. It will first be seen as a sign they are
:08:11. > :08:17.trying to put some discipline in place and gradually they will be
:08:18. > :08:24.trying to raise tax going forward because they need to achieve 10% by
:08:25. > :08:28.October 2015, and using the deflationary years, there was no way
:08:29. > :08:33.they could raise this, so if they do not do that now they will never do
:08:34. > :08:38.it. What about the impact on the shoppers, the psychology of it than
:08:39. > :08:43.the fact they are feeling heart in their pockets. Is that a big impact
:08:44. > :08:50.or not? We will see the negative whiplash. We will see the decline in
:08:51. > :08:55.private consumption, but we feel that from July onwards, things will
:08:56. > :09:00.be back to normal, because we are seeing the fundamentals of the
:09:01. > :09:04.Japanese economy coming back nicely, so the wages are probably going to
:09:05. > :09:09.rise quite nicely so from that point of view I do not think it will be as
:09:10. > :09:19.bad as some people expect. In your view is his strategy working? I
:09:20. > :09:24.think the first era has worked and it is a structural transitions which
:09:25. > :09:30.will take a lot longer. What about trying to keep the Japanese yen
:09:31. > :09:35.week? That has been a big part in this recovery but you cannot play
:09:36. > :09:42.around with the markets for ever. It is being collected and Japan is very
:09:43. > :09:46.flexible. The bank of Japan is very different from a couple of years ago
:09:47. > :09:54.and they will be flexible enough to comply with any emergency issues
:09:55. > :10:00.that could arise. We appreciate your time, good to get some analysis on
:10:01. > :10:01.that sales tax going up today. Stay with us to review the papers in a
:10:02. > :10:20.few moments. There is a warning that shutting
:10:21. > :10:23.half of the animal health surveillance facilities in England
:10:24. > :10:25.could leaders at a greater risk of diseases such as