this is your business briefing. i'm sally bundock. hey big spenders. italy's populist coalition releases its first budget, amid growing fears about the country's finances. plus — bailout boost for argentina. the imf lines up more money to stave off a worsening economic crisis. and financial markets in asia are mixed following the fed's decision to raise interest rates and signals more hikes to come. we start in italy today, where worries over the country's finances have been pushing up its borrowing costs on bond markets. in a few hours‘ time, the government will release its budget for next year — the first since the anti—establishment five star movement and right—wing the league formed a coalition government in june,

with both parties making some expensive election promises. five star promised a "citizens‘ income" — essentially a basic income for the poor of around 780 euros a month. on wednesday, economy minister giovanni tria appeared to back the policy. he also said people would be able to retire earlier, to give the country a younger, more skilled workforce. the league promised tax cuts during the campaign. mr tria suggested these could also be on the way, starting with corporation taxes next year and extending to individuals in coming years. so how will all this be paid for? well, the big worry for global markets is italy's debt. relative to the size of the economy, it's the second highest in europe after greece, at just over 130% of gdp. talking to reuters on wednesday,

the european central bank's chief economist tried to play down concerns about italy, which some say is a bigger worry for the eu than brexit. are obviously headwinds but i think the risk picture has not fundamentally changed. —— i think there are obviously. we do not see in markets confidence indicators change so far, but it is true that the risks are getting nearer of course. lorenzo codogno is a visiting professor at the london school of economics. he was chief economist at italy's treasury department for almost a decade. so it was yourjob to prepare these documents for budget day. giovanni tria has got his work cut out for him, has anti—7 is independent of the two parties in the coalition and is trying to deliver their promises. yeah, he made the point quite clear

that you know, the new government basically committed to respect the constitution and is part of the constitution, there is also the respect of the fiscal framework. —— hasn't he. so he is trying to make the point that italy needs to listen least deliver the minimum necessary to try to be broadly compliant with the rules. at the same time, the italian people voted in these parties with their policies, a citizen's income for the port sounds like a vote winner but it is expensive. yeah, that is exactly the point. we have seen electoral promises which are not feasible basically, and on the other hand you had to maintain fiscal discipline and how you can combine the two things, it is pretty difficult. what you think will happen because he is likely to say today that the citizens's income is on its way today, but also he has hinted at

lowering the retirement age? in italy, the men that is 66 years at the moment, for women it is 65 yea rs. the moment, for women it is 65 years. how do you think that will look like and how again will they deliver that, and how soon?” look like and how again will they deliver that, and how soon? i think it looks like a binary outcome in the sense that giovanni tria will convince his colleagues in the government to at least commit to the minimum necessary again to be broadly compliant with the fiscal framework, which would be something close to i.6% for next year in terms of percentage of gdp. or probably the two deputy prime ministers will push for additional spending and additional initiatives, and the deficit will go close to 2%. is this the right medicine for the italian economy? i think the right medicine for the italian economy is to maintain some support of demands, but the big issue is to divide, to

introduce reforms to enhance potential growth for the economy, so those supply—side measures. i mean this is the recipe that all international institutions and also investors want to see. that is the big issue, buti investors want to see. that is the big issue, but i do not think this play is very high in the agenda of the new government at the moment. all right, thank you for your time. iam sure all right, thank you for your time. i am sure you will be keeping a close eye today. we'll be hearing what giovanni tria does announce later today and we will let you know. from the budget challenges of italy, let's turn to a different league of economic problem now: argentina. late on wednesday, the international monetary fund said it agreed to boost a bailout programme for the country to $57 billion and bring forward some of the loans, after a plea from argentina's government. samira hussain reports from washington. argentina's currency is in crisis. it has fallen in value dramatically as investors worry that the

country's overall finances. —— about. that led the government back to the doorstep of the international monetary fund, looking for money to help stop the currency‘s freefall. now, at the hasn't he needed some guarantees —— imf like leading currencies free slowly on currency markets, the chief also stressed the importance of maintaining some fiscal spending. accelerating the fiscal spending. accelerating the fiscal efforts, maintaining social protection as much as is possible, and some of the measures that have already been announced are significant changes going forward, and hopefully will restore confidence in the argentinian economy that has so much to offer. argentina has once again won the approval of the imf for its economic plans, and now await the judgement from the financial markets. —— awaits.

let's stay in washington, where the us federal reserve has raised the cost of borrowing again by o.25%. it has also predicted another interest rate rise this year, and three more to come in 2019. kim gittleson was at the fed. markets of course do not like surprises and state's federal reserve meeting, well it had absolutely none, it did absolutely nothing to dent investor confidence and even though the central bank as he said they planned to increase interest rates not just he said they planned to increase interest rates notjust once more this year but well into 2019, that did not dent investor confidence either. that is because economic conditions here, as the chairjerome powell said, they are just right for raising interest rates. the us economy is growing at a healthy pace, wages are increasing and inflation is in check, which is not to say that tom clouds are not on the horizon, although mr powell said that he was not yet worried about the prospect that donald trump's

trade war could hurt economic growth here, he did issue a note of caution. trade generally supports productivity, supports higher incomes and fair trade, fair trade and internationally accepted rules, can be a good thing. i think it is perhaps inadvertently goes to a place where we have widespread tariffs that remain in place for a long time, a more protectionist world, that is going to be bad for the united states's economy and for american workers and families, and also for other economies. but for now, mr powell on the central bankers in the building behind me, they are in an enviable position. they stand far removed from the fractious political environment and emerging market turmoil, and they can focus just on one task, to make sure that interest rates in the us, they are not too high, they are not too low, but just they are not too high, they are not too low, butjust right to keep the us economy humming along. britain's civil aviation authority has called

on ryanair to compensate passengers affected by staff strikes this week. the caa says ryanair is bound by eu law, which entitles travellers to a refund or new flight if their trip is cancelled, but the airline says it will reject any claims. ryanair has cancelled 150 of its 2,400 scheduled flights this friday, affecting some 211,000 customers. wall street giant goldman sachs is launching a savings account for uk customers. it offers 1.5% a year, thatis customers. it offers 1.5% a year, that is the best rate on the market. they are calling it markets, after the bank's founder. it could prompt other banks and building societies to try and offer better rates as well. a quick look at what's trending in the business news today.

from business insider, trump claims the trade war with china has had "absolutely no impact on the economy". he made the claims as part of his press conference on wednesday, despite american businesses warning about pain caused from the tariffs. ford says it has cost them $1 billion so far. from wired: "congress challenges google on china. google falls short." it says google's privacy chief ducked questions in congress about whether it's building a censored search engine for china. and an opinion piece from the financial times. economist megan greene — a friend of this programme — says italy's coalition government is playing poker with the public, the eu and the markets. that's it for the business briefing this hour. this markets we saw very quickly, they were lower in asia. also slightly lower on the dow jones they were lower in asia. also slightly lower on the dowjones as well, this was off the back of comments from jerome powell, the thought of interest rates going up again this year and three times next year. that is the speculation. up next, newsbriefing.

but first a coalition of leading conservation groups have called on the government to guarantee the protection of britain's national parks. the organisations say they are alarmed that they could now be considered suitable places to bury nuclear waste. he is our environment correspondent, claire marshall. this is the controversial new power station being built in somerset. it will also produce radioactive waste that will stay active for many thousands of years. these old, rusting tanks hold old radioactive sludge. 30 years since the old

station closed, no one has managed to get rid of it. currently, the uk gets around one quarter of its energy from 15 nuclear reactors but the question of what to do with the waste is still unresolved. the only permanent solution is seen as deep geological burial. the government select committee has said that the safest side should be chosen, no matter where it is. this could include national parks. in the day's open letter, a coalition of charities that this is unacceptable. national parks are places that are protected for their beauty, for nature, and for recreation and really major development puts all those things at risk. we cannot have a case for the government is trying to justify major development in these places which are the most important and beautiful landscapes in the uk. the government says that sufficient legal safeguards already in place to protect national parks. —— are already. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast.

we will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing on bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump defends his supreme court nomination brett kavanaugh, but says he could change his mind if he is convinced by claims of sexual misconduct. the salisbury nerve agent attack suspect who claimed he was an innocent tourist has been identified as a security website as a high ranking russian spy. now it's time to look at the stories making headlines in the global media. we begin with the guardian's front page. uk labor leaderjeremy corbyn. he told the british pm, theresa may, that his party will vote against her brexit plan unless she takes on some

of his proposals. the financial times, comcast clearing the final hurdle in its bid to take full control of sky. that ends rupert murdoch's 30 year association with the europe—wide media group. staying with the ft. their website has the story on goldman sachs opening a rival to uk high street lenders today. the us bank is going out with a strong offer to lure customers away from competitors. it will be the highest saving rate in the country. the new york times looks at rising us debt. this story says the government could soon be paying more in interest than it spends on the military. within a decade, more than $900 billion in interest alone will be due each year. the total deficit is expected to total nearly $1 trillion next year. then bbc news online,

most restaurant owners dream of being awarded a michelin star, but an eatery in wales has given theirs back. the owners say they no longer want to be in the guide and want to use their extra time to be with family instead. too much like hard work. with me is iain anderson, founder of the international communications agency, cicero group. welcome back. so you were in liverpool. i was. welcome back. so you were in liverpool. iwas. and i haven't welcome back. so you were in liverpool. i was. and i haven't seen as many businesses turn up at