:00:00. > :00:15.Now for the latest financial news with World Business Report.
:00:16. > :00:18.A mountain to climb - Argentina's new president inherits
:00:19. > :00:20.a country with soaring inflation, absolute zero growth and absolute
:00:21. > :00:29.Plus, down the chute - shares in a free fall and $30 billion in debt.
:00:30. > :00:32.Can mining firm Glencore dig itself out of a deepening hole?
:00:33. > :00:46.We start in Argentina where one of the toughest economic challenges
:00:47. > :00:56.in the world is about to fall on the shoulders of this man.
:00:57. > :01:03.Give me nine minutes and I will give you a fascinating snapshot of the
:01:04. > :01:05.world of business and money. We will talk about two currency is doing
:01:06. > :01:06.well in Asia. We start in Argentina where one
:01:07. > :01:09.of the toughest economic challenges in the world is about to fall
:01:10. > :01:12.on the shoulders of this man. In
:01:13. > :01:14.a few hours' time former businessman Maurico Macri will be sworn in
:01:15. > :01:34.as the country's new president. The task ahead -
:01:35. > :01:36.rebuilding the nation's finances and winning back confidence after
:01:37. > :01:39.two debt defaults, years of zero growth and total loss of credibility
:01:40. > :01:50.in the eyes of investors. Argentina has one of the worst
:01:51. > :01:53.inflation problems in the world. The official rate is 14.5% -
:01:54. > :01:55.but the previous government of Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner has been
:01:56. > :01:58.widely accused of massaging the In fact it's estimated consumer
:01:59. > :02:02.prices in Argentina are rising at twice that rate,
:02:03. > :02:05.as much as 30% a year, causing huge Exchange rate controls were brought
:02:06. > :02:16.in several years ago to prop up Officially you get 9.7 pesos to
:02:17. > :02:18.the US dollar but you'll get nothing like that
:02:19. > :02:21.changing money on the streets and financial markets put the rate
:02:22. > :02:24.at well over 15 to the dollar. It's thought the new administration
:02:25. > :02:27.will remove controls within days - A row over this saw the Central Bank
:02:28. > :02:36.governor forced out of his job From Buenos Aires Daniel Gallas
:02:37. > :02:49.reports It is the worst kept secret here,
:02:50. > :02:53.one of its most iconic shopping streets is now the city's largest
:02:54. > :03:03.open-air blackmarket for dollars. Every day up to 100 illegal offers
:03:04. > :03:11.are made. Tourists have been able to get 50% more for their greenbacks.
:03:12. > :03:19.That is about to go away. Currency controls have been passed, which
:03:20. > :03:25.will entirely wiped out this blackmarket in coming days. Now the
:03:26. > :03:29.economic team says any currency controls might take longer because
:03:30. > :03:35.of the measures intended to tackle inflation are having the opposite
:03:36. > :03:42.effect in the short time. Everyone knows the peso will soon be
:03:43. > :03:47.devalued. So shops have begun anticipating that by raising their
:03:48. > :03:51.prices now. TRANSLATION: 15 days ago I bought a box with eight pieces of
:03:52. > :04:01.chicken for 400 pesos. Now it costs 540. Meat is getting really
:04:02. > :04:07.expensive, about 25-30% more. The champagne yesterday was costing 60
:04:08. > :04:13.pesos. Now it is 98. It is not the only problem for Maurico Macri. He
:04:14. > :04:17.will begin talks with holders of debt that Argentina defaulted on.
:04:18. > :04:22.His goal is to settle that and get the country back in international
:04:23. > :04:29.bond markets. The local business community will be a difficult year,
:04:30. > :04:33.possibly with recession and more inflation. But they hope sacrifices
:04:34. > :04:38.now might pay off in the future. TRANSLATION: The government needs to
:04:39. > :04:42.put Argentina back where it belongs internationally so we can be seen as
:04:43. > :04:48.a serious country again. We are well developed and rich in resources and
:04:49. > :04:54.human capital. We need to think about the long time. Argentina is
:04:55. > :05:00.now a deeply divided country. Sorting out the economy will not be
:05:01. > :05:03.easy. The party of the outgoing president still commands a vote of
:05:04. > :05:07.support, not just on the streets but also in Congress. Before the new
:05:08. > :05:11.president can convince investors that his economic plans will work,
:05:12. > :05:13.he still has a hard sell here at home.
:05:14. > :05:16.From the struggles of Argentina now to the collapse
:05:17. > :05:18.in commodity prices - and the catastrophic impact on some of
:05:19. > :05:23.Trading and mining giant Glencore is holding its investor day later-
:05:24. > :05:27.its shares have lost over two thirds of their value this year and it has
:05:28. > :05:30.been scrambling to reassure nervous shareholders and creditors that it
:05:31. > :05:33.can cope with its $30 billion of debt. Casting a long shadow over
:05:34. > :05:36.the event today, the news earlier this week that mining rival Anglo
:05:37. > :06:00.Alastair Mccaig, Markets Analyst, IG Index
:06:01. > :06:12.And it joins us here. What went wrong here. It feels like this
:06:13. > :06:17.company, the bosses would come out and say, this is a company that is
:06:18. > :06:24.mining and trading, and they can never lose. If commodity prices
:06:25. > :06:30.fall, we can offset that with a good trades. It has not worked. It has
:06:31. > :06:39.not quite work. Leveraging has been one of the major issues. If they had
:06:40. > :06:45.been effective... That is more debt? That is effectively more debt,
:06:46. > :06:49.overexposure. Coinciding with the downturn in global demand for
:06:50. > :06:54.commodities. The Chinese economy continues to slow down at a faster
:06:55. > :07:00.pace than anticipated. The perfect storm when they came together. If
:07:01. > :07:05.there had been hedging against themselves with the commodity mining
:07:06. > :07:11.side against the trading side, it would have curtailed profitability,
:07:12. > :07:15.but it would have reduced risk. That was the complete they went with,
:07:16. > :07:19.increased profitability and therefore increased risk. That is
:07:20. > :07:25.part of the reason they find themselves in this situation. We
:07:26. > :07:33.have this news from Anglo-American. 85,000 jobs. Out of 135,000
:07:34. > :07:41.globally. What does Glencore do to get out of its problem? Is it the
:07:42. > :07:44.same sort of medicine? They also decided to suspend their dividends.
:07:45. > :07:52.That is something Glencore has already done. It will save about
:07:53. > :08:01.$1.1 billion. With that being the case, they do not have an action
:08:02. > :08:07.available. Cost cutting tens to be available. They still have a
:08:08. > :08:12.sizeable headcount available. It still has room to manoeuvre. As far
:08:13. > :08:16.as the debt is concerned, the company has stated they are on track
:08:17. > :08:23.to meet their targets. They believe they can get it down to the low
:08:24. > :08:29.20s. I am being told to wrap it up. There is no light at the end of the
:08:30. > :08:33.tunnel? Oversupply of commodities and dwindling demand and Europe does
:08:34. > :08:40.not pick up the slack, it will still be problematic for the major mining
:08:41. > :08:48.companies. Let us talk about Asia and go to
:08:49. > :08:56.Singapore. Good to see you. I need more time. We are just eating some
:08:57. > :09:01.of yours. Asian stocks might have slipped because of the low oil
:09:02. > :09:06.price, but two currencies in that region are shining brightly.
:09:07. > :09:12.Absolutely. Australia and New Zealand. The Australian dollar is up
:09:13. > :09:19.by more than 1% against the US dollar following the surprise cut in
:09:20. > :09:24.the unemployment numbers of. The economy added more than 71,000 jobs
:09:25. > :09:34.in November, beginning expectations for a rise in jobs. That put
:09:35. > :09:38.unemployment at 5.8%. And across the Caspian Sea, the New Zealand dollar
:09:39. > :09:42.is in positive territory after the central bank cut rates for the
:09:43. > :09:51.fourth time this year from 2.75% to 2.5%. The reserve bank PC cut rates
:09:52. > :09:55.in June, July and September. The economy has been struggling to do
:09:56. > :10:03.falling dairy prices and a slowdown in China. Back to you. Where is your
:10:04. > :10:09.tie? I do not want to talk about ties. I do not like the Australian
:10:10. > :10:11.dollar BN hike on the when I go home it is more expensive. -- being
:10:12. > :10:15.high. Volkswagen is due to publish
:10:16. > :10:17.the initial findings of an internal investigation into the
:10:18. > :10:19.emissions rigging scandal later. The company has been looking
:10:20. > :10:22.at how its diesel vehicles managed So far 11 million cars
:10:23. > :10:26.around the world have been recalled and VW is facing fines
:10:27. > :10:44.and lawsuits that could take the The Asian markets fairly muted. But
:10:45. > :10:47.generally lower. The commodities hitting the market around the world.
:10:48. > :10:54.Follow me on Twitter.