economy, how they will grow the economy, how they will change this long—running problem of a lack of growth in the economy which he said boiled down to stability, investment and reform. if the economy bounces back into growth, that is not going to be good for labour, is it, and it would erode her case? it for labour, is it, and it would erode her case?— for labour, is it, and it would erode her case? , , a, , a, erode her case? it depends how you look at it. erode her case? it depends how you look at it- if— erode her case? it depends how you look at it. if you _ erode her case? it depends how you look at it. if you are _ erode her case? it depends how you look at it. if you are thinking - erode her case? it depends how you look at it. if you are thinking of- look at it. if you are thinking of making plans to the economy then having a strong economy to start with is good for any politician because more growth means more money coming into the economy and that means more money that any sort of political party can then choose to spend on what it wants to do. so if you look at it from abroad economic picture, then it would actually be quite good news. if you are looking at it from the picture of how to draw dividing lines politically, then yes, it becomes harder. let’s then yes, it becomes harder. let's now turn to _ then yes, it becomes harder. let's now turn to vicky _

then yes, it becomes harder. let's now turn to vicky pryce. _ then yes, it becomes harder. let's now turn to vicky pryce. it's - then yes, it becomes harder. let's now turn to vicky pryce. it's good to see you. when rachel reeves is talking economics, she of course knows what she's talking about so she has a lot of credibility there. is it that her approach is, we need to invest and now in order to deal with our productivity problem in the uk and to get the economy growing? yes, and it makes a lot of sense but what we know is that this takes quite some time to have an impact. of course, you can change the conditions within which companies operate, give it a little bit more in times of tax help which is what jeremy hunt has already done and encourage that investment happened. so i presume they will continue with a lot of the policies that have been prevented already by the conservative government. but there could be other measures that they can facilitate, so for example, we

don't spend enough on already in the uk, so that could increase. we could work a lot more closely with europe and therefore get much more leveraged to each pound that is being spent. we are already members of her eyes and what will give more investment is a bit more certainty. so you don't change policies and personnel to frequently, and they are already hinting that one of the issues we have had over the last years has the fact that there has been a change in personnel at the top and those responsible for the policies. top and those responsible for the olicies. ' . , , ., policies. the difficulty is that there is a — policies. the difficulty is that there is a lot _ policies. the difficulty is that there is a lot of _ policies. the difficulty is that there is a lot of money - policies. the difficulty is that there is a lot of money in - policies. the difficulty is that| there is a lot of money in the kitty, is there?— there is a lot of money in the kitty, is there? no, and i think rachel reeves _ kitty, is there? no, and i think rachel reeves more _ kitty, is there? no, and i think rachel reeves more or - kitty, is there? no, and i think rachel reeves more or less i kitty, is there? no, and i think- rachel reeves more or less admitted that. if the tax cuts that are likely to happen do happen, because

you collect less, and with the nation coming down then a lot of the leverage that the government has had in terms of being able to collect a lot of revenue, that is going to disappear as well. on the other hand, because of low inflation, possibly low interest rates, there will be less to pay in terms of servicing the government debt, so i think that will be perhaps something that could improve their fiscal position a little bit but it is going to be tough and i think at the end of the day, it is growth that will get them there. but it is not going to be felt by people immediately. so there have to be policies which businesses believe in. right now, we have one of the highest rates of insolvency is happening, particularly forsmall happening, particularly for small firms in happening, particularly forsmall firms in the uk, since the financial crisis. there are issues in many sectors, the hospitality sector is screaming right now. there has to be a lot of protection done on the micro level, notjust the macro picture.

micro level, not “ust the macro icture. ., , , picture. coming up, we will be “oined b picture. coming up, we will be joined by several _ picture. coming up, we will be joined by several experts - picture. coming up, we will be joined by several experts to i picture. coming up, we will be - joined by several experts to answer your questions about the uk entering a recession and what it means. just use this hashtag. now it is world business report. turning to japan, where the government has also announced that it is also in a recession. the latest data showed that for the final three months of last year, the economy shrunk 0.4% compared to a year earlier. this could meanjapan has lost its spot as the world's third largest economy. the imf had predicted this last year — saying the value of japan's output would fall behind germany's in us dollar terms. mariko oi has more on this from singapore. well, many had expected the economy to have grown by more than i% at the end of last year.

so the news of a contraction did come as a surprise. the economy also shrunk in the previous quarter. so that's what economists call a technical recession. the economy shrinking two quarters in a row. it also means that the country may have lost its position as the world's third biggest economy to germany. now, the imf actually predicted this last year, but it will only declare a change in its official rankings once both countries publish the final versions of their growth figures. but an economist that i spoke to earlier said the latest figures show that japan's economy was worth about li.2 trillion usd last year, while germany's was $4.4 trillion. now, of course, japan lost its number two spot to china back in 2010. but the big difference this time is that the main reason is the weakness of the japanese currency against the us dollar. and as we've been reporting, the yen fell about 9% against the dollar last year. so if the yen manages to recover, the country could regain the number three spot.

and on a flip side, the weakness of the yen has helped to boost the share prices of japanese exporters because it makes their products cheaper abroad. so ironically, despite this disappointing news, tokyo's main stock index crossing the 38,000 mark for the first time since 1990 this week. and it's now flirting with an all time high level. now, another big question for many traders especially is what does this mean for the country's central bank? if you were betting the bank of japan to start raising rates soon, that expectation is pretty much gone for now. of course, japan was a pioneer in cutting rates to zero at the end of the last century, and back in 2016, the boj introduced a negative interest rate to boost spending and investment. but of course, ultra low rates make the japanese currency not so attractive to global investors, which is why the yen's value has fallen so sharply.

and that's one of the main reasons its economy size is shrinking when measured in the us dollars. so it is a bit of a dilemma for the central bank. but with the economy now in a recession, it's highly unlikely that the boj will do anything to change its policy for now. british gas has announced its profits for 2023 increased ten—fold to £750 million — that's around $940 million dollars. the supplier said the jump from £72 million in 2022 was due to the energy regulator ofgem allowing it to recover losses of £500 million it racked up in the aftermath of russia's invasion of ukraine. while oil and gas firms made record profits when energy prices spiked, suppliers that took on the customers of bust retailers made hefty losses. centrica, british gas's parent company, said its profits fell by 17% to £2.8 billion — that's around $3.5 billion — which is less than the year before. let's get more. david cox is an independent

energy analyst. we know that volatile energy costs have hit households and theirs tells us a bit more about how it thanks applies to. us a bit more about how it thanks a- lies to. , us a bit more about how it thanks applies to— applies to. the shift in profits from latte _ applies to. the shift in profits from latte to _ applies to. the shift in profits from latte to this _ applies to. the shift in profits from latte to this year- applies to. the shift in profits from latte to this year isn't i from latte to this year isn't significant but it is due to balance—sheet changes. what you have already mentioned is what they recovered via ofgem by customers. where they were allowed to recuperate depending on the way that they phased in their wholesale costs and various tariff changes. so that was an extra 500 million. and for other reasons, they made less money by the falling gas prices and electricity prices. they made less money on the sale of their gas

upstream, but those were the main changes. overall, it is a solid balance sheet, a solid set of accounts that centrica have reported and i suppose that is promising from and i suppose that is promising from a uk company perspective, to have some solid uk companies making some money and rewarding shareholders and hopefully our pension funds as well. the money that centrica was able to claw back, which cost taxpayers and supplies themselves, did the customers benefit from any of that to? ., ., ., , , , to? no, not really. it is “ust the problem. — to? no, not really. it is “ust the problem. ofgem h to? no, not really. it isjust the problem. ofgem allowed - to? no, not really. it isjust the problem. ofgem allowed far . to? no, not really. it isjust the| problem. ofgem allowed far too to? no, not really. it isjust the - problem. ofgem allowed far too many companies to get licenses, to operate in this space. they didn't hedge shared in the costs, so they were basing it on the prices. when the prices went up, 30 of them might

bust and i'm afraid consumers, the rest of us, had to pay for that, for those companies going bust. i want ask about something _ those companies going bust. i want ask about something else - those companies going bust. i want ask about something else specific l those companies going bust. i want ask about something else specific to centrica. british gas got into hot water as collectors broke into the vulnerable people's homes to fit prepayment meters. we now hear something else from centrica's boss, things like the standing charge could disappear. is that likely? i am not sure. the standing charge has been around for a long time and it is meant to represent the course of the wires to get the electricity to your home, the fixed costs, independently of whether or not you take gas or electricity. you would have to snare it across the commodity charge. so it has got some

prose, some cons, and whenever anyone has looked at it in detail, we have always ended up retaining the standard charge. that may change, there may be a social tariff as the answer but effectively, removing the standard charges isn't a move towards that. i don't think we are likely to see it in the medium term. david, lots of people thinking the solution should. -

and, if you're heading to bali anytime soon — it's likely you'll have pay a ten dollar tourist tax. authorities say any foreigners arriving into the popular resort island will have to pay the fee , with the funds going towards protecting the culture and environment. in recent years, locals have complained of a number of incidents of foreign tourists misbehaving or disrespecting their culture. a morning on the mersey. today's lesson, rowing.— a morning on the mersey. today's lesson, rowing. teamwork is the big one, the lesson, rowing. teamwork is the big one. they learn _ lesson, rowing. teamwork is the big one, they learn respect _ lesson, rowing. teamwork is the big one, they learn respect for - lesson, rowing. teamwork is the big one, they learn respect for their - one, they learn respect for their crewmates, for their teachers and the coaches here. and also, we are very keen on the fact that they should and respect from nature and

wildlife. shall we change over? richard co—founded the charity that makes this possible. fine richard co-founded the charity that makes this possible.— makes this possible. one of the by'pl’oducts _ makes this possible. one of the by'pl’oducts is _ makes this possible. one of the by-products is that _ makes this possible. one of the by-products is that he - makes this possible. one of the by-products is that he wanted l makes this possible. one of the | by-products is that he wanted to by—products is that he wanted to smash this elitist image in the sport and to bring it back to the grassroots and to show the world that you don't have to be an oxbridge graduate to take part in a truly wonderful sport. so i love rowing. it's quite a fun sport. i would love to do it more in the future — would love to do it more in the future i— would love to do it more in the future. i really enjoy it now, so it would _ future. i really enjoy it now, so it would be — future. i really enjoy it now, so it would be great to do it at some point _ would be great to do it at some point in — would be great to do it at some point in the future. so would be great to do it at some point in the future.— point in the future. so you like that ou point in the future. so you like that you have _ point in the future. so you like that you have had _ point in the future. so you like that you have had this - point in the future. so you like - that you have had this opportunity? yes, absolutely.

hello from the bbc sport centre. a stunning century from india captain rohit sharma helped his side to 326 for 5 against england, after the first day of the third test in rajkot. sharma struck 131 before he was caught by his opposite number, the england captain ben stokes, from the bowling of mark wood, in the last session of the day. wood with 4 wickets, on his impressive return to the test team. including taking advantage of confusion involving sarfaraz khan, run out on debut. ravindra jadeja, a stellar

innings for him after declaring himself fit, passing his 100 too. the five match series is currently tied 1—1. bayern munich's misery continued in the champions league on wednesday — they were beaten by lazio in rome in the first leg of their last 16 tie — and failed to register a shot on target. ciro immobile's penalty in the second half was enough to win the game for lazio — after bayern defender dayot upamecano's challenge on gustav isaksen saw the french defender given a straight red card. bayern, who also lost at the weekend to bundesliga title rivals bayer leverkusen, now have work to do if they are to reach the champions league quarter—finals. translation: we were expecting this -e of translation: we were expecting this type of game- — translation: we were expecting this type of game- we _ translation: we were expecting this type of game- we played _ translation: we were expecting this type of game. we played very - translation: we were expecting this type of game. we played very well- type of game. we played very well during the first half, we even had a chance to achieve greater control of the game. we defended very well but we lacked the strength to impose ourselves during the game. we had difficulties trying to create the