20/12/2016 World Business Report

An experimental year comes to an end for the Bank of Japan -

it gives an upbeat outlook for the worlds third biggest economy

Going, going, gone - Cyrus Mistry finally steps down

from the boards of Tata companies - but says he will bring legal action.

How the falling Chinese yuan may rock the luxury housing market

The Bank of Japan has concluded its latest policy meeting.

It kept monetary policy steady and offered a brighter view

of the economy - that's because it believes a weaker yen and a rebound

in overseas demand will boost growth in the new year.

That's good news for Japanese policymakers, who are attempting

to revive the country's flagging economy using a series

Seijiro Takeshita is a Professor at the School of Management

and Information at the University of Shizuoka in Japan.

Nice to see you. They delivered what we expected, which is nothing new.

First meeting after the election of Donald Trump. Give us your take on

the year ahead for Japan now, then. As you pointed out earlier, a lot of

positivity coming from overseas, and for that reason, there has been a

virtual upward revision in the bank of Japan's comment, but they are

only looking at short-term. They are not really looking at the structural

transformation issues, which have a much more serious impact. They will

regress them back again. Also uncertainty to come from Europe and

in the United States is still there. Although they are at a high level of

expenditure, it is not growing that much. The ambiguity factors are very

large, and considering they have extremely high uncertainty

avoidance, there could be a bit of turmoil ahead of us going into 2017.

What are your thoughts in terms of what the central bank and government

may do in the New Year given what you have just said? They cannot ride

the wave of a weak Japanese yen forever. Absolutely. Of course they

will try to sustain their target, but with what is going on in the

United States, one cannot prevent the longer term rates from shooting.

Can the Japanese central government cope with the situation forever? The

answer no. That may evoke a strengthening of the yen, which

people are talking about right now. What they really have to do is,

again, it is a longshot, but they still to almost go with the second

set of targets for Abenomics, which is a much more acute problem for

Japan in the long run. Thank you for your time. I'm sure we will talk to

you in the New Year about the Japanese economy. Until then, all

the best. The executive board of the IMF has

reaffirmed its confidence A French court found her guilty

of negligence over a huge compensation payment made

when she was the French finance minister, but the court

did not punish her. The case relates to the payment

of more than $400 million The Italian government will seek

parliamentary approval to borrow up to $21 billion to support

its fragile banking sector and potentially rescue Monte

dei Paschi di Siena. The country's third-largest bank

needs to raise more than $5 billion in fresh capital by

the end of the month. If Monte dei Paschi cannot arrange

a private sector bailout, a state rescue may come

as early as this week. Chinese government researchers say

the Yuan is expected to weaken That's on top of the 6.5% drop

in the value of the Yuan Combined with the restriction

on sending money overseas, it's bad news for the high-end real

estate market in the US. The BBC's Helier Cheung spoke

to luxury realtor Aaron Kirman, who says Chinese wealth makes up

30% of his business. National buyers always love that

you. The dollar is extremely strong right now, and that is really

affecting international buyers in general but especially a lot of

Chinese as well. We had many calls from people looking to buy in the US

at a certain price point, and since the dollar has risen, have changed

their price point to a bow at dollar amount. Chinese buyers did dip this

year. The main reason for that was multifaceted -- to a lower dollar

amount. It has been difficult for them to get their money out of

China. That has been difficult. A lot of deals have not been made

because they could not get their money out. Also the Chinese economy

took a hit last year as well and this year as well. Was there any

nervousness in the market ahead of the US election? People were very

nervous about where we were going before the election and he was going

to win. That made it a little bit questionable for people -- who was

going to win. Markets were slow prior to the election. It was

interesting, because after the election, a lot of people moved

forward from all over the globe. Are there any signs of what it Donald

Trump presidency will mean real estate? I think Donald Trump has

certain things that will help him that the real estate market. He

intends to lower taxation for the wealthy. That really does help in

making wealthy people continue to invest in by luxury properties. Then

you have a trickle-down effect. Donald Trump is a real estate Guru,

and so that is something that is very special to him in his heart,

and I think it will make sure that real estate is very secure moving

forward. You have dealt with their lot of wealthy buyers. What are some

of the more unusual requests you have had? People usually want that

very fine multi- million theatre. It is interesting. We even had a buyer

who wanted a medical Hospital in case you got Sikh. We had to create

a 5000 square feet hospital below the home basement to make sure if

something happened to him, he and his family.

The boardroom battle is over for now.

Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry has resigned

from the boards of all Tata group-listed firms.

But he is vowing to continue to push for better corporate governance

It has become quite a bitter battle, hasn't it? Tell us the latest.

That's right, Sally. It has been a really bitter public battle over the

last eight weeks since Cyrus Mistry was sacked at -- as the chairman of

the Tata steel grid. They had extraordinary meetings where

shareholders were supposed to vote whether Cyrus Mistry should continue

on the board of these companies, but before they could get started, Cyrus

Mistry decided to resign last evening, saying his battle continues

and he does not want to use the extraordinary meeting platform to

continue his battle against the Tata group, but he will move to the

courts now and take ever go to. The battle is not over but will now

shift to the court. -- take a legal term. How damaging is this? It has

been really damaging. Tata is the biggest conglomerate in India and

the oldest conglomerate in India. It makes everything from tea, salt,

software. They have a very good public reputation because they have

always prided themselves in following good governance. But after

this whole public saga, if I can use that term, between the two warring

sides, it has really damaged their reputation in public, especially

when it comes to corporate governance, ethical values being

followed, and I think the Tata family has been known to making sure

that they are really philanthropic in their work and keep a very good

image publicly, which has taken a hit because of this public battle.

Thank you. We will rely on you to keep us up-to-date with every twist

and turn. Let's have a book at the markets. The markets globally and

sentiment has been hit a little by the geopolitical concerns because of

events in Berlin and in Turkey. That is something that is on the minds of

investors as we come towards the end of a trading year. A very mixed

picture in Asia at the moment. And in the United States. We saw a

slight uptick in the main markets. I will see you soon.

The NHS in England was left with an unpaid bill of ?30 million

last year by overseas patients who are not entitled

The figure comes from more than 100 NHS trusts.

Our correspondent Robert Piggott reports.