:00:00. > :00:00.Now for the latest financial news with
:00:00. > :00:19.As 12 years of left-wing rule in Argentina comes to an end,
:00:20. > :00:27.we assess what its new leader will mean for the economy.
:00:28. > :00:29.And as the Gas Exporting Countries Forum starts
:00:30. > :00:37.in Tehran today, we assess the risks to our continued supplies.
:00:38. > :00:41.Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock.
:00:42. > :00:44.Also in the programme: Rico Hizon will investigate the case
:00:45. > :00:53.But first, Argentina's presidential election is
:00:54. > :01:02.likely to mark a turning point for the country's beleaguered economy.
:01:03. > :01:04.South America's second-largest economy has slumped more than
:01:05. > :01:07.a decade on from its 2001 meltdown and $100 billion debt default.
:01:08. > :01:12.Global markets will watch this election result closely as Argentina
:01:13. > :01:19.struggles to recover international credibility.
:01:20. > :01:22.So, what does the new man in charge, conservative Mauricio Macri, bring
:01:23. > :01:25.to the table and can he deliver the economic prosperity he promised?
:01:26. > :01:35.With me is Jimena Blanco, principal analyst, Verisk Maplecroft.
:01:36. > :01:44.This is a very poignant story for you, as you are from Argentina and
:01:45. > :01:48.have family in the capital. How important a shift is this for the
:01:49. > :01:57.economy? This is a crucial election in economic terms. The country only
:01:58. > :02:05.grew 0.5% last year. In the previous decade, the average was 6.5%. People
:02:06. > :02:10.want the economy to dig up again and they need that to happen and that is
:02:11. > :02:14.what Mauricio Macri has promised he will do. We have to wait and see
:02:15. > :02:24.what happens when he takes office. He was governor of Buenos Aires...
:02:25. > :02:28.Mayor of the city. And he is talking about a more market led economy.
:02:29. > :02:33.More investment and an end to corruption. I also imagine he has
:02:34. > :02:35.his eye on some of those welfare programmes introduced by the
:02:36. > :02:41.previous government that are very difficult to finance. There is a
:02:42. > :02:46.great deal to unravel and bring in. Absolutely. He will not have a
:02:47. > :02:56.luxury of a honeymoon, like most presidents do. He has promised a
:02:57. > :02:58.policy shift from the get go. We are going to be expecting some
:02:59. > :03:01.announcements. We are not sure what they will be but he has already
:03:02. > :03:08.hinted that the first thing he would do is unravel the exchange market
:03:09. > :03:12.regulations that prevent the free acquisition of foreign currencies.
:03:13. > :03:16.He has talked about a transition exchange-rate. And markets will be
:03:17. > :03:24.looking at what the value of that will be and how he structures the
:03:25. > :03:30.unravelling of all of this. What will he face in terms of political
:03:31. > :03:37.opposition? How easy will it be for him to bring about change and pass
:03:38. > :03:39.new laws? It is not straightforward because his coalition does not have
:03:40. > :03:45.a majority in either chamber of Congress. No political party does.
:03:46. > :03:51.There will have to be a lot of negotiation. Our view is that the
:03:52. > :03:57.third presidential candidate in the first round, who is also a Peronist
:03:58. > :04:03.but an opposition Peronist, he will be in some ways a power broker and
:04:04. > :04:07.that will enable him to pass legislation with some dissident
:04:08. > :04:14.Peronist support and present himself as the future leader of the Peronist
:04:15. > :04:18.groups. Thank you. Over to Asia now
:04:19. > :04:21.and Rico Hizon is in our Rico,
:04:22. > :04:35.you have a bit of a mystery for us. That is right. Drama unfolding at
:04:36. > :04:37.the moment in the Hong Kong with the chairman and chief executive officer
:04:38. > :04:51.of one of China's biggest stock brokerage companies going missing.
:04:52. > :04:56.It be contacted and his whereabouts are not known at this point. As a
:04:57. > :05:06.result, the stock price of his company has plunged by 17% on the
:05:07. > :05:12.Hong Kong stock exchange. He is a high-profile figure in the local
:05:13. > :05:14.securities industry. Pupil at this point may associate the incident
:05:15. > :05:22.with the recent crackdown on the financial industry by mainland
:05:23. > :05:25.authorities. -- people. We have also had staff at a leading securities
:05:26. > :05:34.company and a top fund manager having been caught up in
:05:35. > :05:36.investigations in stock trading. Also making headlines, there could
:05:37. > :05:47.be a merger in the shipping container industry. France's CMACJM
:05:48. > :05:53.has entered into negotiations with Singapore's Neptune Orient lines.
:05:54. > :05:57.This would be one of the biggest acquisitions in the shipping
:05:58. > :06:01.containment industry in years. Talks are expected to run until early next
:06:02. > :06:04.month and that is when we will find out if they will be a merger of
:06:05. > :06:09.these two huge shipping container companies. Thank you.
:06:10. > :06:12.Foreign heads of state are in Tehran today for the
:06:13. > :06:15.When it comes to gas, Europe has often suffered
:06:16. > :06:18.Energy security has been an ongoing priority.
:06:19. > :06:21.Now Europe is exploring the option of shale gas supplies from US.
:06:22. > :06:23.But could shale gas have the same effect
:06:24. > :06:46.Europe needs natural gas to fuel its household and its power stations but
:06:47. > :06:51.produces little itself. The UK imports liquified natural gas by
:06:52. > :06:55.ship from the Gulf state of Qatar. But countries in eastern and central
:06:56. > :07:00.Europe rely on gas piped from Russia through Ukraine. In the past, Russia
:07:01. > :07:06.has cut the supplies, leading to fuel shortages in the depths of
:07:07. > :07:11.winter. Europe is looking to the US, where fracking or hydraulic
:07:12. > :07:16.fracturing, has enabled drillers to produce huge amounts of natural gas
:07:17. > :07:20.from shale rock. On trucking company is promising to send its first
:07:21. > :07:31.shipments of liquified natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico early next
:07:32. > :07:33.year -- on fracking company. Companies are investing millions of
:07:34. > :07:40.dollars around Houston and the Gulf of Mexico. US companies could in a
:07:41. > :07:44.few years the exporting 60 million tons per year of natural gas to
:07:45. > :07:48.Europe and the rest of the world. If so, the US would join with Russia
:07:49. > :07:51.and Qatar as a global gas exporting player.
:07:52. > :08:00.With me is Trevor Sikorski from Energy Aspects.
:08:01. > :08:09.This forum is happening today in Tehran. The US is not going to be
:08:10. > :08:12.there and neither is Australia. This has been going on for years, and
:08:13. > :08:17.they are not really gas exporters yet. Also Australia is, but not the
:08:18. > :08:22.US. Tell us about these shifts expected over the next few years. I
:08:23. > :08:26.think that the gas exporters have had it quite easy. They have tended
:08:27. > :08:32.to sell gas and linked it to the price of oil so that as oil prices
:08:33. > :08:36.went up, gas prices went up. But now there is something completely
:08:37. > :08:39.different and this is this US gas, which will enter the market. It will
:08:40. > :08:44.be linked directly to prices in North America, and these are much
:08:45. > :08:49.lower than the global prices, so we will see a lot of gas coming in at
:08:50. > :08:53.reasonably cheap prices. That will put pressure on existing exporters
:08:54. > :08:58.and they will be seeing this as a big threat to their business models
:08:59. > :09:05.and how gas is sold. Tell us how things are likely to go down in
:09:06. > :09:10.Tehran. Russia is there and so is Qatar. Iran is hosting. Who else
:09:11. > :09:15.will be there? It looks like we are going into a global age of
:09:16. > :09:21.oversupply when it comes to gas, which is very good for consumers. A
:09:22. > :09:26.lot of gas coming from a lot of different players. Iran has not
:09:27. > :09:30.exported very much gas and they want a big piece of this expanding pie.
:09:31. > :09:35.That is good for them. The Russians also have a lot of gas that they
:09:36. > :09:40.want to get into the market, and so are the people and Qatar. Australia
:09:41. > :09:46.has come in and so as the US. We have a lot of gas coming into the
:09:47. > :09:49.market, so we have oversupply. That will probably last five to ten
:09:50. > :09:54.years. This is a real period where consumers will benefit a lot. The
:09:55. > :09:59.discussion today is going to have to be about what we do if prices do get
:10:00. > :10:04.compressed down to these US prices. What does that mean for us as
:10:05. > :10:09.exporters? And can any of us do anything about this? Thank you. A
:10:10. > :10:18.massive challenge for Russia as well as it grapples with low oil prices,
:10:19. > :10:22.a big part of its income. We can take a quick look at the financial
:10:23. > :10:29.markets. The Japanese markets are closed today. No action in Japan
:10:30. > :10:34.today but elsewhere, a mixed picture emerging, as you can see. I will be
:10:35. > :10:47.back in a moment. From today, hospitals in England
:10:48. > :10:51.will have to limit what they spend The government is introducing
:10:52. > :10:55.a cap on the amount that can be