:00:00. > :00:07.Let's catch up with the world of blisters bow and World Business
:00:08. > :00:12.Report. Here is Sally -- world of business now.
:00:13. > :00:17.Free cash if you get a job or not - the Finnish government tries paying
:00:18. > :00:23.the unemployed a basic income in a bid to get them back to work.
:00:24. > :00:25.And with India still reeling from the decision to scrap
:00:26. > :00:28.the country's most widely used notes, Modi announces plans to help
:00:29. > :00:47.Starting this year, Finland becomes the first country in the world
:00:48. > :00:52.2,000 unemployed people in the country will begin receiving
:00:53. > :00:55.560 euro - that's $585 dollars - every month from the state,
:00:56. > :01:07.The government believes many job seekers are put off getting a job
:01:08. > :01:09.because they will lose benefits and therefore be
:01:10. > :01:23.A New Year and perhaps a new approach to welfare policy in
:01:24. > :01:28.Finland. It is just an experiment at this stage but one attracting
:01:29. > :01:31.interest around the world. The new approach involves providing a
:01:32. > :01:34.standard basic income to every citizen whether you work or not.
:01:35. > :01:38.That way, those without a job have an incentive to take even poorly
:01:39. > :01:43.paid or part-time work as they would get to keep the benefit any salary.
:01:44. > :01:46.The traditional weather system means getting a job usually means losing
:01:47. > :01:50.benefits. Will be new system actually encourage more people to
:01:51. > :01:54.work? Nobody knows the shore. That is why the Finnish government has
:01:55. > :02:00.decided to test it. Two dozen unemployed people will get about
:02:01. > :02:05.$580 a month whether they look for a job or not -- 2000.
:02:06. > :02:08.TRANSLATION: We will get information on how this kind of economic
:02:09. > :02:11.incentive affects people's behaviour. It is valuable
:02:12. > :02:16.information and more than the current discussion is based on. We
:02:17. > :02:19.will get some facts. The current discussion is mostly based on
:02:20. > :02:24.opinions and very strong opinions for or against EU welfare policy.
:02:25. > :02:29.This way, we are trying to show something more than an opinion. The
:02:30. > :02:34.Finnish experiment focuses on the unemployed and whether it encourages
:02:35. > :02:37.people into work. But rolling out a basic income in full would mean
:02:38. > :02:41.paying it to everyone. Critics say it would be both expensive and would
:02:42. > :02:46.waste money on people who don't need financial help.
:02:47. > :02:54.We will certainly keep an eye how that pans out in Finland.
:02:55. > :02:56.In a New Year's address to the nation,
:02:57. > :02:58.India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has announced several
:02:59. > :03:02.hardest hit by the country's decision to scrap some banknotes.
:03:03. > :03:04.Measures include additional incentives for digital transactions
:03:05. > :03:07.as well as financial support for farmers who have been hit hard
:03:08. > :03:12.since the Prime Minister announced in November that current 500
:03:13. > :03:19.and 1000 rupee notes would no longer be legal.
:03:20. > :03:22.The government scrapped the notes without warning to crack
:03:23. > :03:27.down on undeclared cash known as 'black money' and fake cash.
:03:28. > :03:30.In fact, this black money shadow economy is said to be worth
:03:31. > :03:37.as much as 20% of India's entire GDP.
:03:38. > :03:40.Together, the two notes represented 86% of the currency
:03:41. > :03:42.in circulation, and the Indian parliament is preparing laws
:03:43. > :03:45.that will make it a criminal offence to hold the old notes
:03:46. > :03:55.Our business correspondent Shilpa Kannan joins me now
:03:56. > :04:01.from Delhi with the latest on this story.
:04:02. > :04:06.It was a disaster in November when this was first announced with very
:04:07. > :04:11.little notice. Tell us what Narendra Modi had to say in his speech.
:04:12. > :04:15.Absolutely. It was shocking and there was utter chaos everywhere.
:04:16. > :04:19.The Prime Minister did acknowledge that and said he is painful to the
:04:20. > :04:23.citizens who showed patients by standing in the line. But what
:04:24. > :04:27.everyone was looking for was did all of that hardship really lead to
:04:28. > :04:30.anything? Was there a big number achieved do this exercise? The Prime
:04:31. > :04:34.Minister failed to provide any details about those kind of numbers.
:04:35. > :04:41.He did not tell us how much black money was seized on what kind of, to
:04:42. > :04:45.this exercise, what did they achieve? Those numbers were not in
:04:46. > :04:50.the speech. But he did give out a lot of handouts, especially to
:04:51. > :04:55.farmers who were really hard hit by this whole exercise. The farmers
:04:56. > :04:59.sector was very badly. There is a crucial agricultural season coming
:05:00. > :05:04.up and farmers could not afford new seeds of fertiliser, said there were
:05:05. > :05:07.handouts for them and for small and medium enterprises. Pregnant women
:05:08. > :05:15.got some money. There were various little handouts. Many said this
:05:16. > :05:21.sounded more like a budget speech then a New Year's if speech. But no
:05:22. > :05:27.details on where this money would come from. And also the impact on
:05:28. > :05:30.the Indian economy. Some have downgraded growth forecasts for
:05:31. > :05:38.India now because of this move. Absolutely. That was one thing that
:05:39. > :05:42.many people were pointing out. With the of this whole currency swap
:05:43. > :05:46.exercise, people were worried about what kind of impact India's growth
:05:47. > :05:52.will have, and rural economy will be the first one to take a hit. People
:05:53. > :05:56.in rural areas simply don't have access to so many banks as much as
:05:57. > :06:00.in urban India. With these kind of handouts, it looks like the Prime
:06:01. > :06:04.Minister is trying to kickstart the ruling consumption again and maybe
:06:05. > :06:11.the investment cycle and get a boost from that. Is I clearly seems to be
:06:12. > :06:14.on rural India. There is also crucial key state elections coming
:06:15. > :06:17.up. This is just ahead of the election date announcement. Very
:06:18. > :06:23.populist move by the Indian Prime Minister. Thank you. Nice to see
:06:24. > :06:27.you. We will see you again soon. Let's talk about one of the things
:06:28. > :06:32.many are discussing as we enter a new year. That is the big question
:06:33. > :06:35.of what will be ye have in store for the world's currencies? -- the year.
:06:36. > :06:38.2016 was a roller-coaster year as Brexit and US presidential
:06:39. > :06:39.elections gripped investor sentiment.
:06:40. > :06:42.Our Asia business correspondent Karishma Verswani takes a look
:06:43. > :06:54.at the past year and what to expect in 2017.
:06:55. > :07:00.At the start of 2016 it was all about the Japanese yen, and the
:07:01. > :07:05.hardest working central banker did everything in his power to weaken
:07:06. > :07:10.again. Nothing, not even negative interest rates worked. 2016 everyone
:07:11. > :07:15.said would be a tough year for the yen. As all of this was going on,
:07:16. > :07:19.the Chinese yuan was falling. As its economy became more uncertain,
:07:20. > :07:24.Chinese companies and individuals began selling more of their cash
:07:25. > :07:27.overseas. Then came the first big shot, the vote for Brexit. The
:07:28. > :07:32.Sterling slumped against the US dollar after the UK and expectedly
:07:33. > :07:37.voted to beat the European Union in June. It lost about 15% of its
:07:38. > :07:41.value. All of that uncertainty led to more money flowing into the safe
:07:42. > :07:46.haven Japanese yen, which kept rising, and all he could do was
:07:47. > :07:52.wring his hands. All of this while, the Chinese yuan kept falling. Then
:07:53. > :07:56.Trump inflation hit. He won the White House and the US dollar
:07:57. > :08:00.soared. Good news that the dollar but bad news for emerging market
:08:01. > :08:04.currencies like the Malaysians currency which at explores bubbles
:08:05. > :08:08.since the 1998 financial crisis. And through it all, the Chinese yuan
:08:09. > :08:14.kept falling, even as the government kept pumping in cash to prop it up
:08:15. > :08:18.-- fell to its lowest level. At the beginning of 2017, the US dollar is
:08:19. > :08:27.at its strong is level in years. It looks set to stay that way. The
:08:28. > :08:30.British pound has lost a fifth of its value since the Brexit vote. A
:08:31. > :08:33.new normal, perhaps? And the Japanese yen, whatever Donald Trump
:08:34. > :08:37.could do, he did, and now it is weakening against a strong dollar.
:08:38. > :08:41.What about the Chinese yuan? It looks set to continue its buy much
:08:42. > :08:43.downwards against the US dollar. For now, at least -- it's much
:08:44. > :08:52.downwards. She has had a busy 12 months as we
:08:53. > :08:56.all have at the BBC. Let's talk more about the Chinese government as far
:08:57. > :08:58.as currency control is concerned. Announcing tighter controls on those
:08:59. > :09:00.wishing to buy foreign currency. Individuals will now have to provide
:09:01. > :09:04.more information to their bank with regards to why
:09:05. > :09:06.they are making the purchase. The tighter controls are part
:09:07. > :09:09.of an array of measures being taken by the government to curb huge
:09:10. > :09:12.capital outflows driven by the Yuan sinking to an eight-year
:09:13. > :09:30.low against the dollar. Let's look at the financial markets.
:09:31. > :09:33.Pretty much no action as far as the share market are concerned around
:09:34. > :09:38.the world because nearly everybody is closed for the brain new year
:09:39. > :09:47.holiday as it were. A bank holiday in most parts of the world -- brings
:09:48. > :09:51.new. Most markets will reopen on Tuesday this week. But they do go,
:09:52. > :09:58.you can have a look at how the currencies are faring as we enter a
:09:59. > :10:05.new year. I will see you send. -- soon.
:10:06. > :10:14.We will look at the International papers shortly. Let's bring you some
:10:15. > :10:16.UK news. Five men have been arrested