taxes. the obr is likely to lower the estimate of how much room he has, and that is probably an over estimate anyway. so he has very little space. he could opt for different things. it looks like he's going to concentrate more on their household than all businesses, therefore two major taxes, one is income tax, other is national insurance contribution. income tax is our broader tax and it would cost him more money whereas national insurance contribution focuses on people at work and would cost him a little bit less. having a bit less money to play with, like that give as a clearer sense of the conservative priorities here because we know there might be an election coming? it is actually who that money goes to, where they want to target votes? that who that money goes to, where they want to target votes?— want to target votes? that is a very aood want to target votes? that is a very good question _ want to target votes? that is a very good question because _ want to target votes? that is a very good question because it _ want to target votes? that is a very good question because it does - want to target votes? that is a very good question because it does look| good question because it does look like they are going to target consumers, or households, rather than businesses, where as if you look at what the priorities are in terms of raising growth potential, you do want to improve and get business investment is growing faster. that is a very big question as to where the focus is going to be, whether it is a long—term increase productivity and stronger growth, which is unlikely to be in this budget, rather than getting people a little bit happier, given the tighter conditions they have been and are, and the higher tax burden they have had to shoulder in a time when they have also had cuts to purchasing power because of higher inflation. i guess he has to have half a night on the global economy, the reputation of the uk. as we saw, promising big unfunded giveaways doesn't tend to end well. absolutely. less room there for him to be extra generous within the envelope of some sort of spending plan. even with that it is quite likely that the current focus, current government plan, will need to be reversed because they are not realistic in the sense increase in day—to—day spending on certain government departments, that is not in the plan. reversal of the fuel duty, that is unlikely to be in place, that is an extra 6 billion thatis place, that is an extra 6 billion that is unlikely to be realised. overall, we are still looking at plans that aren't particularly realistic, but a little bit more, or at least within the obr numbers that we are likely to hear this week. thank you for your time. over in china, thousands of delegates are preparing to gather in beijing, as the annual parliamentary meeting begins on tuesday. china is facing a number of economic challenges and many are hoping the government will unveil some bold policies to help give the economy a much needed boost. here's our business reporter katie silver. when it comes to the economy, china's officials are in a difficult position. the country's post—pandemic economic recovery has been disappointing. youth unemployment is high. local governments are saddled with debt. oh, and people aren't having babies, raising questions about the future workforce. and let's not forget, that's all before that downturn in the real estate sector, which accounts for about a quarter of the economy. that's been going on for almost three years and falling property prices hurting consumer confidence, people are less willing to spend. and also, unlike in much of the rest of the world, prices in china are falling. and while that may feel welcome in the short term, it also signals that things are not well with the economy. that's just what's happening inside china. from the outside, restrictions on chip exports are hurting the country's tech ambitions. all in all, it's a very tricky situation to make policies for. but beijing has been trying. the country's central bank has been cutting key interest rates to boost the economy. state owned banks have promised they'll keep lending to those struggling property developers. but beijing hasn't shown any inclination to spend money to help turn the country's economic fortunes around. and analysts say there are limited tools in their arsenal to fix things. now, premier li speech will be closely watched. he's expected to announce china's economic growth target for the year. and many are hoping a road map to get the country back to boom times again. to oil now, and the latest move from the opec plus group of oil producers. they've agreed to extend voluntary output cuts. the 23 oil—exporting countries — which is dominated by major producers saudi arabia and russia — will continue trimming output to the tune of 2.2 million barrels of oil a day until the end ofjune. if you look at the policy of opec plus, especially the leaders of the group like saudi arabia, russia and even other major suppliers like kuwait, the uae, they all have introduced these cuts last year because at that point of time, oil prices, oil prices were subdued. they were around 75 to $77 a barrel. we saw a spike after the outbreak of the war in gaza because of geopolitical tension. and since then, oil prices have been fluctuating between 75 to $80 a barrel. but for opec plus, that's not enough. they really want oil prices to go up because for many countries it's crucial that oil prices remain at above a certain level because they're able to meet their budgetary targets because of that, because their economies relies on rely on that pretty heavily. so that's the first reason. and the second is if you look at demand that has been soft as well. in fact, the outlook for this year, according to multiple reports, is that oil prices, or rather sorry, oil demand will not go up substantially. according to goldman sachs, it will be up by only i.5%. now, that's due to various reasons, primarily because of the global economic outlook right now, especially what's happening in europe. and then china, of course, because china is the biggest consumer of oil in the world, but the economy hasn't really picked up the way many had anticipated, which has actually affected supplies. these are voluntary cuts where countries don't have to formally agree at the opec plus level. but the fact that all the countries made these announcements together, which is saudi arabia, russia, the uae, kuwait, iraq, itjust shows that it was a coordinated effort. it's a coordinated effort and a coordinated action. the next meeting will be injune. and i think what opec plus will look for is that if there is an uptick in oil prices by that time to a level where they feel that maybe now they can force these voluntary cuts, which is not expected anytime soon, but that is something to watch out for. to japan now, where it's been another record breaking trading session for markets, with the nikkei closing at an all time high. it tops off five consecutive weeks of gains. the story for the wider economy has been less rosy, offically falling into recession and being knocked down the international economic pecking order. but with inflation now at the government target, speculation is growing about when the central bank will move away from its negative interest rate policies. joining me now is professor, graduate school of management at the university of shizuoka. the nick i is at an all—time high, give us a sense of what is driving that. y, , give us a sense of what is driving that. , ., give us a sense of what is driving that. basically corporate earnings, the companies _ that. basically corporate earnings, the companies have _ that. basically corporate earnings, the companies have been - that. basically corporate earnings, the companies have been showing | the companies have been showing record profit for year in a row, cost cutting and raising prices. weakening exporters injapan have flourished, compared with 1989 and we had the previous high in nikkei profit has increased by 600%. japan has been in a position of economic stagflation for a long time. deflation a particular issue. is it too early to say we are turning a corner here? it is it too early to say we are turning a corner here? it may be too earl to turning a corner here? it may be too early to say — turning a corner here? it may be too early to say we _ turning a corner here? it may be too early to say we are _ turning a corner here? it may be too early to say we are turning _ turning a corner here? it may be too early to say we are turning the - early to say we are turning the corner. ijust did tell you we had 600% increase in profit, but at this not strong exports, it is because we had increased the number of companies listed as well. there is little problems including productivity improvements. we have all these problems, protecting the one you are about to note, the financial policies, which have basically remained to encourage and continue with the deflationary world that we have been seeing. on that point, how crucial will the bank ofjapan be? i guess eyes on things like interest rates. what do you expect to see?— you expect to see? inflation, cost ush you expect to see? inflation, cost push rather _ you expect to see? inflation, cost push rather than _ you expect to see? inflation, cost push rather than demand - you expect to see? inflation, cost push rather than demand pull - push rather than demand pull inflation. but this is good timing forjapan to normalise its rates and basically to ward off strange phenomena, to normalise it. but we still have a long way to go. that could be one of the very first steps of normalisation that we will be seeing in the next few years. thank you for your time. bitcoin continues its march towards another all—time—high. the cryptocurrency hit the $69,000 dollar mark back in november 2021, but since then has slid back — trading as low as $17,000 at one point. it's back trading at around $64,000 dollars this morning. the launch of exchange—traded funds which track the coin have given it a big catalyst. turkey's annual inflation rate climbed to 67% in february, exceeding expectations and keeping up pressure for tighter monetary policy. there were strong rises in food, hotel and education prices, according to official data. germany is set to be hit by more strikes. train drivers will launch a wave of strikes from thursday, ramping up a long—running dispute with the national rail operator. meanwhile, ground staff at lufthansa will walk out on thursday and friday in their on—going row over pay. flight delays and cancellations are expected. hello from the bbc sport centre. great britain's katie boulter has broken into the top 30 in the world for the first time after winning the second tour title of her career. she came from a set down in the san diego open final to beat the 21—year—old ukrainian marta kostyuk. boulter won on grass last summer in the nottingham open, but this was a wta 500 event, a much bigger tournament, and she'll now head to indian wells later this week, which is a 1000 tour event, ultimately consistency was also one of the biggest things i wanted to go into this year with. and ifeel like i am beating people a lot higher than me, day in, day out. that's where i need to be. but nothing stops you. it's an uphill battle and ijust want to keep going and see how far i can get, because ultimately, ijust want to do the best i can and i have always asked that of myself. pep guardiola hailed phil foden as the best player in the premier league at the moment after he led the fightback in the manchester derby. city were 1—0 down at half—time to mancheser united at the etihad, but two goals from foden and an injury time strike from erling haaland saw city win 3—1 and move one point behind leaders liverpool in the premier league. city domintaed the game with 73% possession and 27 shots on goal to united's three. but it was foden who was singled out for special praise by the manager

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