24/11/2016 World Business Report

Britain's national debt set to hit almost ?2 trillion in the biggest

jump in borrowing since the financial crisis.

We look at Europe's deteriorating public finances.

Plus, billionaire and Commander in Chief.

Can Donald Trump juggle the presidency and his

Also, flying high. A 1.75 billion dollar takeover for the flight

booking websites Skyscanner. We are talking debt this Thursday,

because across Europe, governments are getting

deeper and deeper in it. On Wednesday Britain's

finance minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Philip Hammond, gave his

Autumn budget statement. He warned that following the Brexit

vote, the UK's on track for the biggest deterioration

in public finances in years and will ramp up borrowing

by the most since the 2008 financial Mr Hammond said that government debt

will hit 90% of GDP next year. In other words Britain will owe

almost as much as the whole Britain's not alone in facing

a growing debt burden We all know about Greece -

its national debt is approaching twice the size

of its annual economy. But Italy and Portugal now also have

debts far bigger than their GDP - And France is also more indebted

than the UK at 97.5%. Put simply - it leaves governments

very vulnerable if borrowing costs start to rise on the bond markets -

as has been happening recently. The club of developed nations -

the OECD - says governments should As far as the UK is concerned -

the Chancellor vowed the situation The forecast is that debt will rise

to 87.3% this year, peaking at 90 .2% in 2017, 2018 as the monetary

policy interventions approach their full effect. In 2018, 2019, debt is

projected to fall, the first fall in the national debt as a sharer of GDP

since 2001 and it is forecast to continue falling thereafter.

Lorenzo Codogno is Visiting Professor at the London School

of Economics - and former Chief Economist of the Italian

Good to see you again. I would imagine you are listening to that

budget statement yesterday. He described the situation with regard

to the debt as eye watering. How worrying is it? The statement was

balanced, to be honest. The United Kingdom is facing an unprecedented

uncertainty due to Brexit. It is reasonable to have some kind of

leeway. The office revised downwards all economic projections which is

reasonable in my view. I think there is a risk that economic growth could

be even weaker. In that situation I think you need to have some

flexibility. I think it is good to have the potential to extend a

little bit of a win, at least in the near term. I think it is a balanced

statement. It gives the right signals on public investment it

provides some support to the economy in the near term and at the same

term, yes, the debt is growing but is still within, you know, an area

that is comfortable for financial markets. OK. Comfortable now, but

how about in the coming year? Thinking more generally about

Europe, there is a lot of political risk hanging over Europe and the

next few months. An Italian referendum next month, no election

in France, Germany and Holland and then Article 50, the button will be

fired possibly in March next year which will begin Brexit

negotiations. There is a lot of uncertainty ahead. Absolutely. There

is plenty of uncertainty ahead. Interest rates will start moving

higher. Because of that? Yes. That will not happen tomorrow and, again,

it is an unprecedented period for the UK economy. It deserves

flexibility. My take is that it was the right decision. Clearly the

higher the debt the riskier the situation. How about other European

economies. Greece needs to brokerage next tranche of financial help in

December. It is being asked for more difficult austerity measures which

it does not want to do. And the other economies with exposure to

debt, if their interest rates go up how will that play out? There is a

big debate amongst economists these days because we are living in

unprecedented times with unconstrained monetary policy. All

about interest rates in some countries in some areas, those

interest rates are below zero. There is a need for some support coming

from fiscal policy. I think in the situation of the United Kingdom it

is good that there is some flexibility. In other countries,

there is no such workability, unfortunately, and therefore these

countries have no choice but to have a more disciplined approach. It is

always good to get your take on this. Thank you very much for coming

in. What is more analysis on that on our website. -- plenty more analysis

on that on our website. We are also looking

at President-elect Donald Trump. He is being urged to separate

himself from the Trump organisation There is no law forcing him to do

so - but it has been the past practise of other Presidents

for the last 40 years. But if this election campaign has

shown us anything, it's that the soon-to-be leader

of the United States - These are the most visible parts

of the President-elect's empire. Mr Trump says he can

be both businessman There is nothing in

the Constitution that There are implicit concerns

in the Constitution about the corruption

possibility but there's nothing that at this

level of specificity. This is a practice that has emerged

in the United States This weekend meeting

with Indian real estate developers already raises

questions about Mr Trump's ability to separate his business

from the presidency. Donald Trump the businessman

has seen conflicts. Casino bankruptcies,

fraud at Trump University and even tussles over hiring practices

at one of his hotel. If he does nothing

come January 20, these entanglements will be with

the President of the United States. The challenge of course

is Mr Trump is his business. And so is his family which makes

claims that his children will now control the Trump organisation

ludicrous to many. There's no need to

dismantle his business empire but certainly to simply say,

"I'm going to let my children You know, if we in the States

would hear something like this, we would associate this

kind of intermingling of government and business as something a feature

of a banana republic. The Constitution does say

that the President cannot accept any foreign money or gifts

without the consent of Congress. Which makes Mr Trump's

International business dealings We should expect there

to be continual concerns, maybe scandals, maybe

hearings in Congress, about the President's

business interests, America's foreign policy

and even domestic policy. It's all going to be in one big knot

and it's going to be difficult For now, Mr Trump seems intent

on mixing his business with his presidency

but it's hard to see how that approach will keep

in compliance with US And it also seems long way away

from his campaign promise to drain If you fly frequently you may have

used the flight booking website It's based in Scotland -

but now has a new Asian owner. Sharanjit Leyl has

the story in Singapore. Nice to see you. Who is purchasing?

It is none either than the biggest online travel company in China,

ctrip.comp which does the same thing for the Chinese market. We saw

shares rising as much as 9.2% in extended trading. We said that

Skyscanner helps users compare prices across travel sites as well

as for flights, hotels and rental cars. The CEO is frustrated with

finding cheap flights online and that is why he started this up. It

is available in over 30 different languages and we know that this is

among the many Chinese overseas purchasers this year in the first

nine months of this year. In fact $191 billion and all were announced

and a lot of those deals are taking place in the travel and

entertainment industries. And very quickly, the markets are

still going up in anticipation that rates will be rising in December in

December. I will see you shortly.