showing strength. we look at the state of australia's economy as its central bank decides its next move on interest rates. plus.. how ideal corporate credit conditions are paving the way for a soft landing in the world's largest economy? hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. let's start with australia where later this morning the central bank will review its benchmark interest rate. higher mortgage payments in australia are hitting savings and spending for low—income households, but the economy has also shown surprising strength. i spoke withjun bei liu from tribeca alpha plus fund earlier who gave us her outlook for markets and the economy this year. australian economy has been

resilient, one difference between here and the us, the us is further along, and our central bank is more conservative and always looks at the us for guidance.- at the us for guidance. what are the key _ at the us for guidance. what are the key factors _ at the us for guidance. what are the key factors driving i at the us for guidance. what l are the key factors driving the current interest rate movements in australia and how do they impact the economic outlook for the year? impact the economic outlook for the ear? _, ., . impact the economic outlook for the ear? ., the year? the economic outlook is lookin: the year? the economic outlook is looking at _ the year? the economic outlook is looking at 296 _ the year? the economic outlook is looking at 296 with _ the year? the economic outlook is looking at 296 with inflation i is looking at 2% with inflation looking at mid—single digit level, with the rate currently, most economists expect no rice today and potentially three cuts by the end of this calendar year. cuts by the end of this calendaryear. our cuts by the end of this calendar year. our inflation rate, the less report was much better undershot our central bank forecast and hopefully that will be on its way down in the next few prince.— that will be on its way down in the next few prince. how is the usherin: the next few prince. how is the ushering in _ the next few prince. how is the ushering in the _ the next few prince. how is the ushering in the current - ushering in the current executive the optimistic about it? one of the key areas of strength but also vulnerability?

strength but also vulnerabili ? ., , vulnerability? the economies wasn't whether _ vulnerability? the economies wasn't whether because - wasn't whether because consumers are doing well, and with the rate staying where it is, we would have slowdown in consumer but we have to tax cut coming through in the middle of the year which is over $20 million going or into the lower income and made income households and there will be sure to spend back into the economy, not also mentioning that we have tourism and students coming through that would drive lots of activity for the economy as well. lots of countries, _ for the economy as well. lots of countries, when _ for the economy as well. lots of countries, when it - for the economy as well. lots of countries, when it comes l for the economy as well. lots | of countries, when it comes to interest rates, we know it expect —— affects people with mortgages, how does it affect mortgages, how does it affect mortgage ability and house buying? mortgage ability and house bu inc? ., , buying? mortgage affordability has been difficult, especially i has been difficult, especially in the last six months when many consumers in that mortgage both, the lower consumer bracket, where they are rolled from the low fixed interest rate into high interest rate, we are seeing if few pockets of distress across those mortgage

belts for lower income households, and is likely to get worse. we see but —— before we seek a better with the rate cuts. but across the general economy, most of the high income households with assets seem to be doing ok, that is why consumers are holding up well in aggregate. sticking with interest rates, credit quality for major companies in the us is solid even amid higher borrowing costs. that's because many of the biggest firms borrowed for longer duration when rates were lower. now, with us and other rates cuts expected later this year, this credit profile adds a "tailwind" to the chances for a soft landing in the us and a flow through to the global economy later this year. earlier i spoke to april larusse from bny mellon investment management and she told me the financial results of american companies have been surprisingly strong. corporate results we have seen have all been quite a bit stronger than we expected, and

i know the equity market has view the results with a bit of a mixed tone to them, but from a mixed tone to them, but from a fixed income perspective, the companies are generating cash and can afford the debt they have and are certainly going to do well as we go through 202a. the economic data has continued to surprise, coming out stronger and stronger, including things like employment, which we typically would have expected to see slowing down at this stage of the cycle. slowing down at this stage of the cle. ., slowing down at this stage of the cycle-— the cycle. how do credit ratings _ the cycle. how do credit ratings of _ the cycle. how do credit ratings of major - the cycle. how do credit ratings of major us - ratings of major us corporations compared to those of global companies, and what factor contributes a solid character? in factor contributes a solid character?— character? in terms of credibility, _ character? in terms of credibility, the - character? in terms of credibility, the us - character? in terms of credibility, the us as i character? in terms of- credibility, the us as more and the trip will be part of the region and that's just bottom end, but looking at default rates, they are pretty similar, you're pretty unlucky to get a default rate on credit, if you look about about 20 years, the average default rate in any one

year has been .i% of the investment, so it's not about defaults, it's about companies perhaps seen changes in their credit rating. and, therefore, as we go into 2024, there will be companies that perhaps see their credit rates and downgraded, but we are expecting almost as many to see credit rating upgrades given the economy where seen over there. ., , , , ., there. consumers, they have hi . her there. consumers, they have higher saving _ there. consumers, they have higher saving rates _ there. consumers, they have higher saving rates for - there. consumers, they have higher saving rates for those | higher saving rates for those who save, but paid more in interest for mortgages, car loans and the like, with the benefit from lower rates as well? ,, ., , well? the us economy, looking at the demographics, _ well? the us economy, looking at the demographics, there - well? the us economy, looking at the demographics, there are | at the demographics, there are savers but it really is a debt because that would bite a bit more, we have been looking at things like credit cards and what is charge there, and there are companies —— customers funds are heirs are paying late, we are seeing credit card

arrears have rarely moved, barely back to pre—pandemic levels and nothing like previous recessions, so although we see a bit of increase in slowing of payments increase in slowing of payments in some of those interest rate sensitive parts of the economy, it is incredibly resilient, and thatis it is incredibly resilient, and that is probably down to 3.5% unemployment rates, which means people can actually pay their debts. here's a few others stories before we go.. samsung electronics�* chairmanjay y lee had a good day in court. he was acquitted of accounting fraud and stock manipulation charges. those charges were connected to the 2015 merger of two samsung affiliates, that prosecutors alleged helped cement lee's control of the tech conglomerate. this latest legal victory ensures that lee will not be returning to jail, despite his 2017 conviction of bribing a friend of the former south korean president — park geun—hye. the owner of snapchat has become the latest social media company to announce job losses. snap will cut about 10% of its workforce, which is thought to be around five hundred employees.

the firm is due to announce its latest financial results on tuesday. it reported a loss of more than $300 million in the previous quarter. major companies across the technology industry have been attempting to reduce costs in recent months. the uk, like many countries around the world, has an ageing population, the concern for the economy is that if things don't change, there may not be enough workers to pay for the upkeep of the state pension. earlier, my colleague sally bundock spoke to andy briggs, ceo of the phoenix group and pensions advisor to the uk government. she began by asking him if this is a global problem. so what we have globally is an ageing population. so the world economic forum recently produced some statistics that by 2050 the number of people aged over 60 globally will double and the number of people aged over 80 globally will triple by 2050. so, if you then think

about that from a pensions perspective, if you want to keep the proportion of people of working age to the proportion that are retired the same, then by 2050 globally retirement ages would need to increase by eight years. so that ageing puts a huge stress and pressure on the pension system, and ultimately people need to save more and need to be prepared to work for longer. what can organisations like government or pension providers do to encourage this change of behaviour, ie working for longer and saving more? ultimately, in the uk we have auto enrolment where people are automatically enrolled into their company pension scheme. the contribution rate, minimum contribution rate is 8%. if we just look at some other countries, so in canada that contribution rate is 20%. and if you, of that 8% contribution in the uk, 3% of that is coming from the employer. the australian equivalent of our 3% is i2% from the employer. so the first and most important

thing is that we need to increase the rates of those auto enrolment contributions higher than 8%, ideally to 12 or even 15% over time. but that's assuming someone is in employment where they've got an employer doing that for them. many people are self employed, they might have multiple jobs, they might be out of the workforce. there are so many complicated scenarios in this day and age, aren't there? so, i think there's two key points i'd make to that. first of all, auto enrolment needs to be extended to include the self—employed as well, and so that the self—employed get a regular savings. so everyone in employment should have pension savings built in as part of what they're doing. the other area that you touched on was getting more people working for longer. and a particular issue here is that in the uk we have roughly half a million over fifties that are out of work and would like to work. and this is a huge challenge

but also a huge opportunity if we can get a lot of that half a million of over fifties back to work. firstly, good work is good for you. it's good for your physical and mental wellbeing. secondly, you're earning money for longer and therefore saving for longer and your pensions need to last less time if you work for longer. so, there's a real benefit and opportunity of getting more of those over 50s back into work. and mcdonald's posted its first sales miss in four years last quarter, amid weakness in the middle east, china and india. comparable sales, which is a key metric used in the restaurant industry, rose just 3.4% in the fourth quarter, well below analyst estimates. weak consumer spending in china and alleged misinformation

about the mcdonald's brand amid the war in the middle east contributed to the weaker result. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. - anna borrowed £1,000 from a loan shark when she left home at 17 without any financial support. what were the difficulties in paying it back? always struggling. always having to ask to lend. always looking for places where you could go and borrow. just to keep a roof over your head. put food on the table because you don't want to fall behind on their payments. you come down for us? this operation by the illegal money lending team with cheshire police led to the arrest of a 63—year—old woman. i need to inform you that you're under arrest for illegal money lending and for money laundering. one in five of the people we arrested last year was female, and it's not unusual for them to be of retirement age as well. and people think, well, there's no threats. if there's a 70 odd—year—old woman, what's the threat? quite often it's a lot subtler than "i'll break your legs, which is what people think

about when it comes to loan sharks. the way illegal moneylenders operate has also changed. last year, 39% of cases that we dealt with had a social media element, which was either the meeting, the loan shark on social media or communication being through social media. and we're seeing loan sharks who advertise even on things like snapchat, maybe paying an influencer to recommend them and then they have a reach of all over the country. for more stories from across the uk, head l to the bbc news website. hey, i'm dylan with the catch up. tonight, king charles is diagnosed with cancer. an update on the clapham manhunt and an unusual piano concert. first, buckingham palace says king charles has been diagnosed with cancer. he's undergoing treatment and won't be carrying out public duties, but the palace says he remains positive. some other stories, and police say a 22—year—old has been arrested and released on bail on suspicion of helping the suspect in the clapham chemical attack.

they're now offering £20,000 for information about him and more than 100 people have been killed by forest fires which have been raging in chile. parts of the country have been completely destroyed, with residents describing the situation as hell. next, it was a big night at the grammys for taylor swift, who won album of the year for a record breaking fourth time. that puts her ahead of anyone else in the history of the awards. taylor used the occasion to make this big announcement. my brand new album comes out april 19th. the night was dominated by women, with billie eilish taking home song of the year for what was i made for. and miley cyrus finally won her first grammy for record of the year, but maybe gave away a little bit too much information in her victory speech. thank you all so much. i don't think i forgot anyone, but i might have forgotten underwear by now. forgotten underwear bye.

now here are ten seconds of this unusual concert one pianist in germany took performing to new heights, playing a piano concert suspended vertically in the air. that's it from me. you're all caught up.

i'm mark edwards. hello and welcome to sportsday — here's what's coming up on our show. foden on fire, as the hattrick hero helps manchester city up he keeps the match ball in a 3—1win over brentford a record run chase too far.. england run out of miracles as india level the series calling it a massive issue, emma hayes says there aren't enough opportunities for female coaches in the wsl hello, and thanks for joining us on sportsday. manchester city are up to second in the premier league after a convincing 3—1 win

at brentford which sees them