tv Counting the Cost Al Jazeera July 16, 2022 1:30am-2:01am AST
1:30 am
clearing up off the acw network or who did the merger serious against turkish people. and they didn't do it. the government says they'll continue to monitor thousands of members of far right network saying they're the biggest threat facing germany. natasha gonna delta 0. in the u. s. the democratic controlled house of representatives has voted to restore abortion access nationwide. so democrats 1st legislative response to the supreme court ruling over turning roe v wade. the bill has little chance of succeeding as it needs the support of 10 republicans in the senate. the house also passed the bill, it would provide legal protection to women who travel from one state to another in order to have an abortion ah,
1:31 am
a look at the main stories were following the sour now the u. s. in saudi arabia of signed 18 agreements for joint cooperation on energy investment space and health. on the 1st day of jo biden's trip to the kingdom, the u. s. president says they agree to work together to extend it sees fine yemen that includes assistance in the delivery of humanitarian aid. they're also working on global energy security to increase production in the wake of rising prices. i. but while campaigning to be president biden had vowed to make saudi arabia a pariah over the 2018 murder of journalist remark, shoji by now says, he told the crown prince bomb had been summoned directly that he believes he was personally responsible for the chan less murder we discussed human rights, the need for political reform. as always i was always do. i made clear that the
1:32 am
topic was vitally important to me and to the united states. respect to the murder of co shogi. i raise it at the top of the median, make it clear what i thought of it in the time. and what i think of it now, and it was exactly i was straightforward in direct, in discussion. i made my view, crystal clear. i said, very straightforward way for an american president to be silent, an issue of human rights. is this consistent, inconsistent with who we are and who i am always stand up for our values earlier by visited the occupied west bank or he said the us will continue to insist on a full investigation into out there john history and i will act as death he also tell policy present man with a bus that while palestinians should have a state of their own time is not right to restart negotiations. in are all the headlines for like is prime minister runaway from a singer has been sworn. it is acting president of to go to by roger pac so resigned in the wake of mass protest. new president promised to restore law and
1:33 am
order and establish units, he government until a successor to roger pac. so could be elected the u. k. some in russia's ambassador over reports of the death of the british aid work in a breakaway region of east and ukraine. full year he was accused of being a mercenary. a spokesman for the separatist leadership says he died from chronic illnesses and stress despite receiving medical care. that's it for myself and the team here in london, counting the cost is next. talk to alger 0. we ask, can you be more specific? how many troops are you asking for and what kind of military equipment we listen, asked the people of cuba in the street. if there is a difference between donald and joe, bye for them. so we meet with global news makers. i'm talk about the store restock matter. on al jazeera, i i
1:34 am
kind of error. i'm this dante and this is counting the cost on al jazeera. you're look at the wealth of business and economics this week. energy prices are soaring on the u. s. once saudi arabia to pump more oil. so could president jo biden's, re engagement with the kingdom help ease record high prices also this week in japan, prime minister for me, o key should i wins a new mandate that will he carry on. sions are all based economic legacy or is a financial policy change on the cards? and an argentina, anger grows over sky high inflation. can the government rain and soaring prices and has the i m f played a role in the countries economic woes? ah, from israel to the occupied west bank. and then finally, saudi arabia jo biden's, 1st visit to the middle east as president comes at a critical time for him. when his approval,
1:35 am
racing is at less than 40 percent ahead of the midterm elections. the war in ukraine has set off a global energy crisis, and biden wants the kingdom to pump more oil in order to bring down prices for americans. feeling the pinch at the pump. while relations between the traditional allies reached a historic low half to the matter of saudi journalist, democracy in 2018 biden's visit to re add ends to reset these ties and convince opec nations to increase oil production. other issues on the agenda also include security and relations with israel. gas prices in the u. s. hit $5.00 a gallon last month. and global oil prices have dropped slightly just below a $100.00 a barrel. that's largely because while production and refining outputs are struggling to keep pace with the rebounding demand, and supply is disrupted as a result of sanctions imposed on russia over the war in ukraine. the opec plus alliance and world producing countries which includes russia has agreed to speed up its output increase in july and august, adding $648000.00 barrels
1:36 am
a day. but their production shortfall is in many member states, saudi arabia and the u. e. the only members who have significant volumes of spare capacity, their estimated to have a buffer of about 3000000 barrels a day together. that's around 3 percent of global oil outputs and almost equivalent to the amount that russian oil could be kept off the market at year end. well, to discuss all of that i enjoyed from london by i've met nettie now, and that is a visiting fellow at the oxford institute for energy studies. thanks so much for joining us on that. i know there's been plenty of speculation about potential increases and well production in the coming months. and do you think that that's actually likely to make any kind of an impact on the well difference, especially before the u. s. midterms is biting, presumably high? yes. so i think that at the moment there's a lot of our discussion, a lot of moving parts in the oil market right now. and biden's visit has put the
1:37 am
focus on spec capacity, and in particular, saudi production as team. and i think that it's important to say from the forefront to inspect asti has already been falling in, in the case of ask you last few months and are, you know, open glass have added more to the market. so you know that the wedge of available spec as t actually is going to drop anyway, and that's been priced in by the market. and where we really rece reach about to point to 2300000 barrels a day of spec as t by august. as opec plus continue of the increases. so as i said, that's already being priced in. i think the other point a member, remember actually there's a lot of uncertainty on both the demand and the supply side on the demand side of the difference in opec's own forecast or all demand growth this year is, is, you know, is actually, is different by about 2000000 barrels a day to most of the consensus forecasts, you know,
1:38 am
taking into account the demand side risks. and, but i think really the big issue is relate to what the supply side uncertainty in a world where a spare capacity begins to fin. and do you have ongoing policy discussions with regards to sanctions on russian oil with proposals around a price cap and really kind of highlights the confusion that exists at the moment in terms of our you know, what the next steps are, we're look turning point and, and even tons of russian supply losses. what the estimates are, are also very wide. and you talked about uncertainty around supply. just looking at the numbers. i believe saudi arabia's total capacity stands about $12000000.00 barrels per day. how long can it sustain hunting oil like that? and what does it take to, to produce that huge amount? saudi really, you know, it's, it's, it's opec plus quarter of august is going to be 11000000 barrels day. you know,
1:39 am
they've only really produced that amount briefly towards the end of 2018. and we've seen them reached $12000000.00, i think, just for one month in 2020, during the height of a price war of russia are. so really, i think that the debate about can saudi reached 12000000, you know, and, and question is going to be how sustainable can they, you know, sustainable production as to over time is the issue. however, i think really misses the point. i think what the market, you know, it's what the market leads and the market believes saudi messaging on their took maximum, sustainable cost he at all to $1212.00 and a half. and the question is really, if saudi what the testers would they want to give away that information premium, which really holds strategic value for the kingdom. and, and you have to also take into accounts operational constraints of maintaining that production as t over time. and then obviously the question of spec asti,
1:40 am
as i mentioned with all of these supply side risks that exist in the market, you know, do you want to actually, you know, there's a trade off that has to be taken into account the market as well. and then any increase in oil production where presumably a require consensus from opec mendez, how likely is that and, and do you see a future for russia within opec last year? so i think the next meeting focus plus really august's will be an important one because really that's when they'll have an wound. you know that the, the cuts that they announced in the mid 2020, or, and i think really the opec plus is going to look at trying to understand or be, know, they'll have to also understand, you know, what the base, what balances will look like for the rest of this year, and as i mentioned beginning there is a big difference of view between opec opec's own view of oil demand growth and
1:41 am
those of other agencies. and, but at the same time, i don't think that russia will be, you know, they'll be a wedge between russia and saudi was another class. the the cycle of thinking is much more long term within opec plus than it, you know, and it's not going to respond to a, any short term political cycle or do political had when that may occur. and then just taking a bit of a step back here, we're looking at an energy crisis that isn't solely driven by opec production. so what are the other challenges that have gotten us to this point? so yes, you're right, this is an energy crisis. it's not just, you know, it's not just an issue of an oil market in terms of, you know, what's happening with that, you know, i mean, the russia crisis is also highlighting issues with gas. you know, you're seeing the, the, the opening of a new new new front and the conflict with regards to cutting back on contracted
1:42 am
volumes of natural gas applied to europe. the europe, european economy is, is closely watching weather, our natural gas supply returns from watering, one following after maintenance. and that's having an impact really upon some of the, you know, central bank decision making as they decide whether or not to increase interest rates. and likewise refining as t has been a big issue as well. you know, we've seen about 3 to 3 and a half 1000000 barrels a day. we're finding as t shots since co bid started. and that's also taking place against the background of really, you know, what's going on in china as well. so when china has not been exporting much petroleum products as, as last year. and so really the, you know, you, it's not just an issue in the group market, but also across the energy value chain. so you'll see constraints in the refining
1:43 am
capacity system. you'll see record levels of prices for gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. and really, that's part of the, the, the coven returned demands and suppliers and been able to catch up. and so really, these bottlenecks and constraints are not just limited to what's happening in the oil market. but there's a more of an interconnection numbers taking place between different fuels and market. so, you know, seeing you know, policy intervention. and i think this is what the interesting thing about the situation, oil and our markets as well. the role of government literacy and interesting kinds ahead are many there a visiting fellow at the upset institute energy study. thanks so much for joining us here and counting the cost ah. knowledge of hands, upper house elections were seen as a referendum on the prime minister's leadership. and the landslide victory of the
1:44 am
ruling party and its coalition partners has bolstered for me o t shudder just 2 days after the assassination of shins or abi. the result means that key should i may now have the power to push fiscal policies, including his so called new form of capitalism, which aims to revive the economy. the agenda includes investing in human resources, science and innovation, increasing the number of start ups and promoting green and digital transformations . but the prime minister has also been under pressure to stick with parts of abe's economic plan. critics, a big spending packages to cushion the impact of the pandemic and ultra low interest rate policies of sent the n to to decade low. as and could even accelerate inflation ave, introduced his economic policy back in 2012, in an attempt to jumpstart japan's economy. out of 2 decades of stagnation through the so called 3 arrows of his namesake other nomics policy. they include an ultra loose monetary policy and the form of negative short term interest rates to make it cheaper for consumers and companies to borrow money and to spend pumping money into
1:45 am
the economy by funding infrastructure projects, for example, or giving incentives to companies like tax breaks and structural reforms adding more women and migrants into the workforce than boosting the countries job market to push economic growth. well, joining us now from singapore is marcelle tilly, on. he's a senior japan economist at capital economics. thanks for joining us marcel. that was really quite the landslide victory there. i'm curious. do you think he should are now has a, a free hand to do what he wants in terms of the economy. you're already had a pretty strong majority before and he doesn't have the 2 thirds majority term are be heard just a few years ago. but yes, yes, he hasn't elusive parliament. he has a free hand. i think the key is whether he can overcome vested interests and that the powerful business lobby in terms of pushy through any, any reform attendance. and the evidence so far suggest that the he,
1:46 am
he is not willing to offend a lot of people. marcel, this all obviously comes in the wake of the very snappy banded are the nomics policies, and that has had mixed successes. that what do you make of it and, and do you think he should, i will depart vastly from that. i think i've been on that that probably the biggest achievement of i been nomics has been both an improvement in, in corporate profit margins, which was triggered by the, the corporate governance reform support been issued by arbor, as well as a shop increase in the day before spots patient rates of women and elderly, which ensured that employment actually kept rising to, to, for such like at highs to oust about ob, his terms despite the, the shrinking of the population. but i think the, the kid a seal off of our been nomics has been a very sluggish productivity roles. and unfortunately, even tailwind from a rising labor force participation rate now seems to be fading. so listen,
1:47 am
elderly people on, on not terms thinking, employment for much longer us and at the same time productivity growth is still very weak and this is no clear policy by the current government to improve that. so i think that the next few years are going to be quite challenging for japan's economy in terms of achieving strong g d. p growth. well, much of an annex, especially when you start talking about the participation in the workforce was also about addressing and equality. and then there is this talk of some sort of new capitalism and the key should or do you think that addressing inequality will still be a priority for him? well, he, unfortunately back paddled on plans to raise the tax on capital gains and dividends. that suggests that his, his initial focus has already been bolted down. he has suggested in lifting the minimum wage quite aggressively. but that was something that started on the prime
1:48 am
to stop. we already so it's not a shift in policy. so overall, i would think he is pretty much on he's pretty much stick with the status, or there's nobody shift in policy just at the moment. well, we are also looking at a very different japanese economy. now, given everything that's happened with the pandemic, given the rising inflation that we're seeing in the end is now what a 20 a lower do you think? inflation is still going to be the focus that it is the case, you know, that it was the orbit. unfortunately, it is, the deflation is still a threat. i mean, we are currently seeing pretty rapid price gains, but it's, it's worth all things, but yet has as depreciated at the most rapid pace since the early as the asian financial crisis. and obviously the, the massive supply shortages out there, and even that, we're just going to get inflation just above the bank of trans 2 percent target. and with, with energy inflation already starting to slow. it will felt fall back below the, the to target next year. so, so while deflation is probably not,
1:49 am
no longer major threats, i think the, the back to pants to set its lation target will remain other reach fall for the foreseeable future. while speaking of different challenges, japan also has huge public debt. in fact, the highest public debt to g d p ratio in the industrialized world. how do you see you should as approach to that? i think the, the strong face of everything at the moment is providing a bit of a tell them to the public finances by boosting tax revenue. so we had the, the ministry of financing, or putting just last week. the tax revenue, the previous year, searched by 10 percent to to fresh record high. so that gives you a window to repair the public finances. the key question is how, how building he is to, to not spend the windfall. i mean, we saw last year he implemented a huge supplementary budget last year for the program to about 60 percent of g d. p . he already announced another admits the small supplementary budget at the very
1:50 am
start of the current fiscal year. so it may to be seen whether he and he's willing to, to not spend the windfall and flash spending now that the economy's opening up again after the pandemic. interesting times indeed, marcel tele on the senior japan economist, capital economics. thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us here on out of there. i give. well, while rising inflation didn't seem to discourage japanese verses from supporting the ruling party, the rising cost of living is challenging argentina's government. thousands of origins marched in the capital last week, urging the government to resign while rejecting i. m. f. loans, which come with tough conditions, may inflation exceed 60 percent, and the value of the pacer has fallen after the country swore in a new economy minister. theresa by reports now from one is areas it's one of the most challenging jobs in the country. managing argentina, the economy in times of trouble would i put, you put about, you know,
1:51 am
what that case was sworn in as economy minister by president of the firm. and this, see who the promising to jumpstart argentina's economy. some of them and feel a little more can we are convinced argentina's direction has to do with our fiscal management. following the president's economic program, and of course, boosting argentina's exports and reevaluating our currency, which is achieved with more reserve. i mean me, shannon, though that it is, but doing so won't be easy, but that keith is replacing marketing of man. he was in charge of the tough negotiations of over $40000000000.00 with the international monetary fund. even though the negotiations prove successful, guzman was constantly attacked by the powerful former president and no vice president christina, for on this occasion. and who did not agree with the handling of economy argentina . the problem with very high inflation around 5 percent among high poverty and exchange rate controls that have
1:52 am
a huge impact in the economy. a changing the ministry of economy generates a lot of uncertainty. now, country like argentina and that uncertainty increases the price of the us dollar on the streets. and that in most cases means more inflation. argentines are used to living in crises. they have survived one every other decade. people on the streets, i watching the latest developments very carefully. we amended, which is obviously there is a lot of uncertainty. we don't know which direction we are going right or left, whichever, but what argentines need is a direction. and sadly, we don't have one attention. have been running high between president i went the for a members and christina kirshner for months. but back his appointment is seen as a wind for the far left leaning faction in government were close to the vice president and critical of the agreement with the i m f. remember if agreement and he did, he did populism maids money to come the people down under his my money. they have
1:53 am
no money to give away and whatever they will give, they will have to print, and that will increase inflation even more. we have a huge problem. i don't see a way to make it work very well now, but that keith has a difficult task ahead. she has to fight inflation, generate jobs, and increase the countries reserves without displeasing argentina's, vice president who for many or has now more power than the president himself. very so i'll just see that when a site is well, joining us now on skype from and the list here in spain is humana. blanca, she is the research director and head of america's at risk insights at verisk maple croft. thanks so much for your time today. humana we're looking at obviously skyrocketing inflation, argentina, something expected to hit what 80 percent this year. obviously we're seeing inflation become a problem in many different parts of the world that why specifically are we seeing such a huge rise in argentina?
1:54 am
well, i mean, one of the big problems of argentina is that it's been struggling with inflation now for several years. right? and this is accelerating quite quickly. on the back of 2 things. number one is domestic policy, right? a very expansionary monetary policy. if we just look at the last month between mid june and early july, the central bank added the equivalent to 1.4 percent of g d p in money being printed right. so this is, and this is a huge problem for the country. and of course, we have now the 2nd added issue, which is russia's invasion of ukraine and the impact it's had on a fuel and also on fertilizers. which obviously argentina being a huge agricultural power house is also impacted by. well, given the central banks decisions, how do even begin to tackle inflation when we're in the situation that we're in now,
1:55 am
one of our agency does main economy preowned as a political one actually, of the reason the political will to tackle the problems. the central bank is not independent and the executive is embroiled in a power struggle with in the ruling coalition. so, you know, part of the problem, the policy problem is that there are no policies. and the policies that have been announced and repeated this week, or no convincing markets that argentina is capable to get its economy back in order . and so any, the question is, you know, how much worse can the country get before there is the need for some shock measures? because unfortunately, you know, argentina is heading a for another argentina, sal crisis. will you talk about this political, talis struggle is there, then the space for the new economy minister to do what needs to be done at all?
1:56 am
or is there not the autonomy for her to operate in that way? well, i don't think it's even an issue of autonomy because i don't think the previous economy minister, happy autonomy either. and one of the key issues with the new appointment is that it wasn't an appointment made out of choice for the, you know, the best economy minister in the country could get, but it was rather the choice based on who could precedent fernandez. and his v p. kirschner agree on. so it was kind of a, you know, the decision was made on a reaching a truce rather than, you know, looking for the economy minister, who could leave the country out of a crisis. and in fact, you know, for anyone who followed the situation in the country, there were several other potential candidates that came before minister by taxi's. so even just but when taking office and she's taking office with a,
1:57 am
an impression that she doesn't have the authority or the independence to implement even the agreement that aren't. and tina has reached with the i m. s. well, i want to turn to the i m f because there's obviously a huge disagreement on how that relationship should be approached even within the road in coalition. so what do you make of that going forward? what should we be looking for? well, i mean, this will be the clear bone of contention between president ford under some v p kirshner. you know, as i mentioned earlier, i don't think that argentina's problem is solely economic, but it's political one. and the i m. s will be a very useful scape goat in any crisis that comes next. and you know, the agreement with the i m f itself, the country is already, you know, failing to deliver on it, you know, bringing down the fiscal deficit to 2.5 percent of g d p this year. now, you know, it's the, the stuff of pipe dreams. and the reality is that, you know, the,
1:58 am
i have has a limited room for maneuver. because argentina, the problem is the i m s problem and the i m f doesn't want to get burned once again in the region, let alone with argentina. but if the government in one osiris is unable to resolve its internal problems, then of course the i m f a is a great candidate to become, becomes the culprit argentina's neck problems, humana. blanca there from various maple craft. thanks so much for sharing your expertise with us on out there. thank you. all. that's our show for this week to get in touch with us by tweeting me atlas darzy at a and do use the hash tag a j c t c. when you do office and email counting the cost out there a dot net is our address. there's also more few online at al jazeera dot com slash ptc. that'll take you straight to our page, which has individual reports,
1:59 am
links and anti episodes. he's a catch up on well, that's it for this edition of counting the cost. i'm the styles you take from the whole team here and are on thanks for joining us. the news on out there too often of con, astonish, portrayed through the prism of war. but there were many of canister thanks to the brave individuals who risk their lives to protect it from destruction . an extraordinary film archives spanning for decades, reveals the forgotten truths of the confused, modern history. the forbidden real pot for the era of darkness on a jessia. feita rupa hotel is the most r tells that i've ever stated in the biggest box you have ever seen. had it explode or have taken out the hotel. this was germany. we loved it when it was
2:00 am
24 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on
![](http://athena.archive.org/0.gif?kind=track_js&track_js_case=control&cache_bust=256278282)