15/08/2016 World Business Report

They said the officer who shot him was also black.

Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News.

Now for the latest financial news with Sally and World Business

Japan's latest growth figures are weaker than expected.

The Prime Minister's economic plan is put in question again.

And could this be the end of wining and dining for businesses in South

The government introduces a new law to crackdown on corruption.

Also in the programme: Londoners are now cutting house prices

It's been another very tough quarter for the Japan's economy.

It saw a smidgen of growth in the three months to the end

of June leading to some economists questioning the Prime Minister's

aggressive economic policies known as Abenomics.

The growth figures were weaker than expected at 0.2%.

Most economists predicted growth would be something closer to 0.7%.

Marcel Thieliant is a Japan Economist at Capital Economics

and joins me now from our Singapore bureau.

Good morning. Give us your take on these numbers that have come through

today. VI .2% you mentioned, it is an annual figure, so if you take the

actual change, it was zero, stagnation basically, and we have

seen disappointment in basically all components of GDP. I think it is

also important to remember that Japan's GDP numbers are notoriously

volatile. If you want to get a true picture it is better to look at the

yearly growth rate, which was open 6%, which is broadly in line with

the economy's growth potential. Given the huge amount of monetary

stimulus that Japan is currently seeing, this is clearly

disappointing. We should expect the economy to be growing much faster.

Is it too soon to expect the economy to zoom ahead given that the latest

stimulus wasn't announced long ago. Do we need longer to see it kicking?

I don't think the latest measures will have a major impact. The bank

of Japan introduced negative rates at the start of the year and banks

have already lowered lending rates to an extent. The problem is that

there is not enough loan demand, and that is why loan growth has been

tepid. With regards to the fiscal package outlined two weeks ago, this

had a huge headline figure, but the exact details indicate that we will

just get a very small boost to growth next year and this year. From

these policy measures, we shouldn't expect tailwind for the economy.

Just quickly, what has to be done to give the Japanese economy a serious

boost. I think the main support factor would be more fiscal stimulus

by the government. They had indicated earlier this year that

they would do more but for some reason they have scaled this back,

and in the long run obviously there are many things that need to be

done, the most importantly addressing the shrinking working age

population, which is the biggest factor dragging down growth. And the

Japanese economy needs to be much more open to foreign investment.

Japan has almost no foreign companies operating in the country

and so there it is a cosy environment for firms operating

their and more competition would certainly boost productivity in the

country. Thank you for your time. More on the website. You

You might ask, what would business be without entertainment?

Well, not for much longer in South Korea where a new law comes

Limits are being put on how much can be spent

Our Seoul correspondent Stephen Evans wondered

what the consequences might be over a business lunch.

this is a very nice restaurant in the middle of Seoul and it is

classic business entertainment territory. The rules are gonna

change at the end of next month. There will be strict limits on this

kind of dining. I have with me a government official and a

businessman. Under the rules, entertainment would be limited to

about $30 per head in restaurants and you can't give gifts of more

than $50 a head. Cash gifts, which are traditionally given at weddings,

cannot be more than $100 per head. One of the intriguing things is that

teachers are covered in this, because parents give gifts to

teachers to get more attention for their children. Korea is very much a

relation basis country, so if they want to do something they have to

build the relationship. If they have over entertaining with the people,

the government officer cannot the fair enough to do something for the

citizens or for the people. The loophole however is that the law is

focusing on the individual journalist. The problem is that you

have still 20 odd newspapers in Seoul. The only way they can survive

is through advertising subsidies by the big conglomerates here, and of

course in return for getting the advertising, the newspapers are very

careful about writing critical stories about these corporations.

Oh, the bill has arrived... It is more than $30 a head. It is lucky

the new law doesn't come in place for a month, otherwise we would all

be in deep trouble. We would, especially on the BBC budget. You

can see Sharanjit Leyl behind me. Wining and dining off the menu in

South Korea. So wheeling and dealing over a long

lunch may be off the menu in South Korea and,

according to a new report, there is not much to smile

about in Singapore either. Many Singaporeans were beaming for

change as we saw the homecoming of the first Olympic gold-medallist

Joseph Schooling, who beat Michael Phelps over the weekend. That is not

the case according to the survey you mentioned. It is a consumer

confidence index by MasterCard and apparently Singaporeans are the most

pessimistic about the economy they have ever been in seven years with

the index falling to 33.6 compared to 44.3 for the previous six months.

Many here are growing gloomy about the quality of life and income and

job security. MasterCard's consumer confidence jumped to 33.6 in the

first half of 2016. That is the lowest since June 2009, which was

the height of the global recession. It is when the city's gross domestic

product contracted for four straight quarters. The index will seem to

echo Singapore's growth stats, with the trade ministry lowering the top

end of the 2016 growth forecast after the economy expanded less than

previously estimated for the second quarter with economists predicting

the economy to grow 1.8%, the slowest pace since, surprise,

surprise, 2009. Thank you. And congratulations on goal for

Singapore. The International Monetary Fund has

urged China to reduce its reliance In its annual review of the world's

second-largest economy, the IMF also said Beijing needs

to tackle rising corporate debt. London properties are taking

longer to sell this month, And of course it is uncertainty over

what Brexit will bring On average sellers cut

prices by 3.6% from July, It leaves London up 2.1%

on the year, the slowest growing Normally it is the other way around

but Brexit put paid to that. Let's look at markets and you can see

Japan is down a third, bucking the trend. All markets elsewhere in Asia

are higher. I am a German growth story has hit sentiment in Japan.

And the dollar is only buying 101 yen as well, which does not help

Japanese exporters listed in Tokyo. That is a look at currencies today.

I will see you soon. The sale, importation

and manufacture of so-called "Zombie knives" will become illegal

in England and Wales The Home Office says

the weapons glamorise violence.