Day on our International Womens day on our website and we have lots more on all of our stories including many more details on the coronavirus. To stay with us here on bbc news. Now it is over two Asia Business report. Oil prices plummet as opec and russia face off in a price war. And despite a call to cancel non essential travel, some conventions in the middle east are relying on superpowers to fight the coronavirus. Hello and welcome to this mondays Asia Business report. I am Sharanjit LeylAsia Business report. I am Sharanjit Leyl. We begin our programme with markets in turmoil where a dramatic price war has broken out between two of the worlds most largest oil
producers. We have opec and russia. Oil prices have been plunging and thatis oil prices have been plunging and that is spilling over here into asias stock markets which are all opening sharply lower. I am joined by Monica Miller here in the studio. You have been watching it all, what has been going on . This downward spiral happened over the weekend when open opec and russia had a meeting about production cuts but couldnt reach a conclusion. This has sent, as we can see, brent crude oil, the benchmark, it has been down by almost 21 that even the future is that we started out with this morning when we came in, they were down 30 and this is where traders started the day here in asia. The problem is, when you look at, saudi arabia produces the cheapest oil on the planet and russia is also saying, wait a minute, we the planet and russia is also saying, waita minute, we are the planet and russia is also saying, wait a minute, we are not the planet and russia is also saying, waita minute, we are not in a position with our economy to be cutting these costs as much as possible so they just cutting these costs as much as
possible so theyjust couldnt reach a conclusion this week and it looks like it was a better frought discussion may not end any time soon. We are now looking at, when you tack on the concerns about the coronavirus, we are looking at the nikkei which has been done more than 496 nikkei which has been done more than 4 this morning. In australia it started off 6 down and has gained a few extra Percentage Points for sub looks like we are now down to about five that it is still not very good. You are looking at a rattle over oil prices and fears of the coronavirus. This is not starting out to be a good week. Know, sounding like a repeat of last week but this week we have the addition of the concerns around oil prices. Thank you so much. Investments today, the nikkei is down. It is not helping at the latest data shows that japan is technically in a recession. It contracted and annualised 7. I
technically in a recession. It contracted and annualised 7. 1 in the october december quarter and thatis the october december quarter and that is its biggest fall since mid2014. That is its biggest fall since mid 2014. Going forward, there appears to be several headwinds for the japanese economy. At the end of march, the number of chinese visitors cancelling trips to japan is expected to reach 400 thousand due to the coronavirus outbreak and there remains a big . On the summer olympic games. If that will still go ahead,japan olympic games. If that will still go ahead, japan has olympic games. If that will still go ahead,japan hasa olympic games. If that will still go ahead, japan has a stove at so far spent about 13 billion on infrastructure to get ready for these games and despite these challenges, cole told me there is a good chance japan will emerge from this Health Crisis is a stronger more competitive economy. Just as the economy was trying to recover after the sales tack hit, now you have the coronavirus but that is a great opportunity and some of the Business Managers in japan great opportunity and some of the Business Managers injapan are taking this shock right now to actually make the hard decisions
that they couldnt make before and i think as we see more of that great opportunities and great strengths will come through. What can you expect the public and rabbits at is to do to try to mitigate the slowdown . Dont forget, japan is the one country that already has put together a massive fiscal stimulus package. It is almost 5 of gdp, y24 trillion, that has already been approved i parliament and over the next couple of weeks we will start to see the most positive effect of the school stimulus coming through so the school stimulus coming through so where other countries are still, oh my god, we dont know what to do, injapan, you oh my god, we dont know what to do, in japan, you already oh my god, we dont know what to do, injapan, you already have the Massive School stimulus that is coming through and over the weekend, they put together a package to help small and Medium Sized Companies that are affected by the coronavirus, loss of business, they are going to be able to get zero interest loa ns for are going to be able to get zero interest loans for their lost business. The patchwork is starting
to. Yes, but obviously the 13 billion question, how will the Coronavirus Impact the olympics, very briefly . If the olympics get cancelled, it is because the coronavirus is running out of control and i think the olympics is going to be the last thing we have to worry about. In the latest blow to worry about. In the latest blow to hit indias troubled yes bank. Its founder has been arrested and questioned by more than 24 hours for more than fit 24 hour is. I am joined now. We know that India Central Bank is in the process of drawing out essential plan for yes bank for the business going to get better for customers . Customers certainly hope so. The reserve bank of india out assurances that depositors need not worry about the
money, it is safe. In the beginning when the crisis hit the bank, the rbi said it would be capping any kind of withdrawals to under 700 till the third of april. When change has happened over the last few days, the rbi has relaxed that a little bit and they could be a possibility, if things go well, they could reduce that time and perhaps keep that till about the 23rd of this month so depositors are hoping about that. However, there is still a bit of turmoil at the bank atms. Customers have been saying they havent been able to use their debit or credit cards but over saturday and sunday, there was some improvement, however, Online Transactions for customers remaina Online Transactions for customers remain a bit of a problem, even now. Customers struggle but it all depends on the rescue plan that biggest indian bank comes up with. It is likely to have to invest about 331 million, that is around 49 sta ke 331 million, that is around 49 stake in the bank. They are hopeful that they will get some sort of
interest from investors but it still remains to be seen because many experts point out that for a com plete experts point out that for a complete rescue of yes bank to stay at stay afloat, investors would have to put in, in a limited period of time, somewhere between three and 4 billion to try and rescue this bank. It is still a bit precarious but hopefully some rescue plan should work out over the next 2 three weeks, to few months of use in other news, tesco might pull its out of asia. It could be a deal worth over 10 billion. The Company Confirms it has received inbound interest but did not name the potential buyer or buyers. Tesco outlets in South East Asia employ about 60,000 people in some 2000 stores. The coronavirus outbreak has
led to conferences and trade fairs being cancelled all around the world. The middle east is no exception. The uae has advised its citizens and residents against non essential travel and it has closed its calls for a month. Conventions are an important part of dubais economy. How are they coping . We went to have a look. Superhero masks are a poss popular site at every comic con event but the middle east addition held in dubai, another type of mask was hard to miss. With fears of the coronavirus spreading, many fans who turned up were being cautious. Im just taking precautions like have hand sanitiser, not going to be around a lot of people, putting myself in a position where i am going to be at risk. Two if people ta ke going to be at risk. Two if people take care of themselves, clean
themselves regularly, sanitise regularly, i think it shouldnt be a problem going around. Regularly, i think it shouldnt be a problem going aroundlj regularly, i think it shouldnt be a problem going around. I am not concerned about corona but my friend, they are concerned about it and they didnt come. Over the last few days, most of the entertainment and business events have been cancelled or postponed in the city and that is across the whole middle east. However, some of them are still going ahead putting precautionary measures in place. Thermal cameras has been installed at entry gates to monitor the body temperature of every visitor entering the venue. Some organisers have also deployed air purifies and hand sanitising gels. Despite these measures, businesses are concerned about the impact of the virus. Because of coronavirus, i am seeing many because of coronavirus, i am seeing ma ny eve nts because of coronavirus, i am seeing many events get cancelled. It affects everything. You can see, there is no children here. They are getting scared. The coronavirus
outbreak is starting to impact economies in the middle east. The uae is the main hub for trade and entertainment in the region with many local businesses relying on trade fairs to drive revenues. Their concern is the longer the situation persists, the more challenging would be the recovery. That is it for the Asia Business report. Im Sharanjit Leyl stop thank you for watching. Some breaking news. A man has been shot dead by police in westminster. It follows an incident which is not being treated as terror related. This is according to the metropolitan police. We will keep you updated. In other news, Boris Johnson has been visiting a town in worcestershire which was badly hit by recent flooding. Hello. Im boris. In a town at risk of flooding for generations, any message of reassurance from westminster is welcome. Residents, still counting the cost of the winter storms, finally had a chance to put their case. The highest river level since 1947 saw over 1000 homes and businesses flooded in the severn valley, a continuing threat while the water table remains saturated. Mrjohnson was criticised for his failure to appear at the time. Prime minister, are you about two weeks too late . Today, at a residents meeting, he brought news of increased investment and the promise that things would change. I want to see some work done. So i think were at the beginning. This visit did give the Prime Minister a chance to inspect the temporary flood barriers that sprang up here and in all those areas most at risk. They were largely successful, but he acknowledged that with any increase in spending should come a change in tactics. The thing we have to look at is the rules which currently say that you cant put in permanent defences when youve only got a small number of households potentially affected. Our neighbours sewage, shall we say. Edward cownd is still living in chaos after filthy river water and sewage poured through his home. He said mrjohnsons visit had lifted spirits. Its really positive today to see the local mp and borisjohnson, which was a real surprise. And it does feel positive. And the overriding slogan by the end was get bewdley done. Yes, get bewdley done. Mrjohnsons short stay in bewdley was accompanied by smiles and blue skies. But along the banks of the uks rivers, communities know full well that long term plans cant protect them from the next spell of bad weather. Robert hall, bbc news, bewdley. Let us crossover to get all the sports news in the sport today. Hello this is sport today live from the bbc sport centre. Coming up on this programme back to back league wins over the rivals Manchester United are celebrating, after their big derby day victory, over man city. The usa extend their long unbeaten streak in the shebelieves cup and england are off the mark with a win too. And victory is clenched in the bay hill invitational by one shot. Hello and thanks forjoining us here on sport today. Its been a decade since Manchester United beat rivals Manchester City home and away, in the english premier league. But fans at old trafford were given a taste of what used to be in their 2 0 win in the manchester derby. There were jubilant scenes at the final whistle. Anthony martial opened the scoring, becoming the first united player to score in both derbies, in a premier League Season since Cristiano Ronaldo 13 years ago. Scott mctominay made the game safe, deep into second half stoppage time. The defeat for second placed city means League Leaders liverpool only need two more wins, to clinch the title. For united, theyre back up to fifth, and chasing down a Champions League spot. It was so hard playing out there. One of the best atmospheres i have been pleading playing in. Credit to the fans and i think we will look back at tonight but in three or four days we will look at the league table and though it is a big three points for us. It is always special for our fans and us. And it is unacceptable to play this way and lose 2 0 here. I think we started the game well and
after we conceded a goal everything changed. We know how good and how fa st changed. We know how good and how fast they are and how aggressive they are defensively. Well that win for Manchester United keeps them three points behind chelsea who also won on sunday. They hammered everton four goals to nil, on Carlo Ancelottis return to Stamford Bridge as opposition manager. Chelsea boss Frank Lampard saved the tributes for 18 year old billy gilmour, who was man of the match. You put him in and he willjust get better quickly because of this quality, because of this game intelligence and this work ethic. And today was another example of that after liverpool. Two good games. I want to keep this feet on the ground but i dont have to much at the moment because of the type of what he is it is good. But he realises now that the hard work begins and he will be judged
realises now that the hard work begins and he will bejudged on realises now that the hard work begins and he will be judged on a different