feelings with us. and i'm now going to release you back i think to where you'd most like to be right now, which is the comforting bosoms of your two new friends. there we are, ladies, he's on his way. mend that broken heart, hugh hefner, thank you very much. >> thank you again very, very much. enjoy it. >> my pleasure. that's all for us tonight. good morning from cnn rogue. >> happy friday and welcome to world business today. here are the top stories. there's a 50/50 chance standard and poors will cut the u.s. credit rating as lawmakers continue to lock horns on the debt ceiling. and scores of banks will soon be finding out if they're

tough enough to withstand another financial shock. >> i think they've injected themselves into a situation that's beyond their comprehension. >> plus a former fed boss paul volcker has a blunt message for the ratings agencies. quit meddling in things you don't understand. we have that candid interview in full. but first, though, we begin with the tide of debt that is causing problems on both sides of the atlantic. this of course with the results of the european banking stress tests out later on today. now, that is seen as one of the -- one of the most debted nations, italy, is of course trying to fight to stave off a bailout to become the fourth euro nation if it were to do so to request one from the imf, the eu and also the ecb. this was the scene just

yesterday as lawmakers approved a four year, $57 billion austerity plan. the lower house is expected to adopt some of these measures later on today. and newspapers have been having quite a field day with this situation. let me show you the front page of one of the newspapers owned by the prime minister berlusconi. they're on the bow of the titanic as that fated ship sinks. this is in reference to a comment made yesterday saying the situation of the country finds itself in at the moment is akin to the sinking of the titanic and not everyone the first class passengers are safe. >> you can always count on him for a very colorful sound bite. and another metaphor, the iceberg is all that debt under the surface. meanwhile time is running out to raise the u.s. debt ceiling. lawmakers are still at odds. another warning about a possible

downgrade of u.s. debt. this time from standard and poors, has raised the stakes even higher with no compromise on either side, the u.s. stands to run out of money on august 2nd. but perhaps there a glimmer of hope on the horizon. we'll take a look at that a little bit later on in the show. so with all of that going on, investors have plenty on their plate this bring. so let's see what's happening on the stock markets. we start in europe where the they're just over an hour into the trading day and this is how things stand at the moment. all major indices down in negative territory. there's a lot of caution there ahead of the results of the stress tests. those will be released at the end of the day. these stress tests are the third in three years and there's a lot of concern about which banks have the most exposure to debt from greece, ireland and portugal. so that's the main focus right now. and also the recent warning from standard and poors about u.s. --

the u.s. credit rating. nina? >> pauleen, let's bring you new that's come out just in the last couple of hours. credit suisse has not confirmed that it is under investigation by the u.s. department of justice. it issued a statement saying that the investigation is focused on the private banking services that it offered to u.s. citizens and that it will fully cooperate with the authorities to try and resolve queries linked to those particular services. here's what's happening in the asia pacific markets. the markets were mixed on this friday as investors worried about that standard and poors threat to cut its raising on america's bonds. it was a little bit of a mixed bank. shanghai and hong kong, it was a choppy session where property stocks were under pressure. they will limit the number of homes families can buy in

smaller cities. china is trying to control housing speculation after selling increased 31% by last month. but by the end of trade, it regained ground and ended the day up by almost a third of a percent there. the main aussie benchmark town by about 0.4%. and stocks on wall street started strong on thursday, but they limped to the finish after ben bernanke weighed in after hinting at what could have been interpreteded as another round of stimulus, bernanke told lawmakers that the fed is not ready at this point to take further action to boost the economy. at the close, the dow was off by half of one percent, the nasdaq had lost more than 1% and the s&p 500 had fallen about two-thirds of 1%. after the bell google was up 36%

from a year earlier. as we were giving a hint earlier ouks the banking sector here in europe will be in focus a bit later on today. these european banks have had their second health check. results due out a bit later on today. midday new york time, we'll know an awful lot more about what's on their balance sheets, how he will any or unhealthy some of them are. they'll be telling us more with what's expected from these investigation tests. >> that's right, this is the third health check on the euro zone's banks. analysts expect up to 15 of the 91 lenders tested to fail, that's double the figure last year, but not everyone has faith in the results. last year both irish banks that were tested passed. the bank of ireland and the allied irish bank. we remember what happened to

those. both collapsed and needed bailouts. it left the people questioning the viability of tests. so what is the solution? stricter standards this time around. they're looking at reserve benchmark p 5% core capital, the ability of banks to happen contraction in the euro zone in 2011, a 15% slide in euro stock markets and the ability to handle potential trading losses on sovereign debt. not all are taking part. only 90 results are to be released and the german bank withdrew on thursday to avoid public fame you're. they refused permission for the publication of results and the withdrawal has to some extent challenge validity of these tests. so what are the implications if a bank fails? they must show plans to plug the shortfall by the end of the year. they can request tax payer money only if needed.

and if it only just passes, it's forced to improve its capital offers. back to you. >> of course where i am in italy, a number of the italian banks hold no less than 3.36%. allegations that news corp journalists hacked in to phones have shocked the world. now it seems they've crossed the atlantic and the fbi says it's launched its own investigation into the claims of september the 11th victims against rupert murdock's media empire. we'll have more on that as world business today continues. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare,

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from hong kong, and rome, this is world b"world business." rupert murdock's news corporation is facing new investigations into whether its journalists allegedly tried to hack into the voice mails and phones of crime and terror victims in the united kingdom. and on the other side of atlantic, the fbi has now said that it is looking in to allegations that murdock controlled news outlets tried to tap into the voice mails and phones of september the 11th victims and also their family. and now there's also cause for congress to investigate. brian todd reports from washington. >> reporter: a law enforcement source tells cnn looking into the news corporation is now a high priority, so high that the

fbi has already launched an investigation. the source says the probe is focusing on allegations that murdock's employees or associates may have hacked into phone conversations and voice mail of september 11th victims and their families. anyone acting on behalf of news corporation is being looked at the source says from the top down to janitors. frank loudenburg also believes news corporation violated federal law. >> would you want to hold hearings? >> certainly that would be a serious consideration. i'm waiting now for a return from the justice department. >> reporter: in canvassing capitol hill, we've learned of growing sentiment for congress to delve into the activities of rue further murdock. most of those calls are from democrats. murdock is a big backer of republicans. if more momentum builds for probes, there are cautionary tales for lawmakers, reports

that the tabloids sometimes turn the tables on those who investigate them. most of those accounts date back to well before this scandal ploou up in the media in recent weeks. martin moore of the media standards trust tells us when british parliamentary looked in the tabloid press a couple years ago, he heard of allegations that they were discouraged from repeatededly inviting rebecca brooks to testify. >> the allegation was they were told, members of that committee were told, do not invite her again. do not press this one, do not push it, because if you do, you'll regret it. that was made very clear. >> reporter: a news corporation spokesman would not comment on that allegation. are you concerned that they might hit back at you and dig into your personal life or whatever? >> i'm not worried about my personal life nor am i worried about my next term. i've been here 27 years. when you grow up in a poverty stricken area and poverty stricken household, you develop a thin skin. i don't scare that easily.

>> reporter: a news corporation spokesman would not comment when we asked him about the possibility of congressional hearings, would not comment on the fbi investigation. but in an interview with his open paper, the "wall street journal," rue further murdock defended his company's handling of this crisis and vowed to establish an independent committee that will investigate every charge of improper conduct. brian todd, cnn, washington. rupert murdock and his son, james, say they will testify before a british parliamentary committee on tuesday. their decision is a reversal coming after they had said they couldn't make to parliament for weeks. but the house of commons issued a summons demanding that they appear and committee chairman john whittingdale says the murdocks would be in contempt if they didn't show up. a formal summons may apply only to british citizen, but both rupert murdock and his son say they will answer questions. however, in a letter to the committee, james murdock said he's concerned that the grilling

they're expected to receive from legislators might affect separate judicial investigations now under way. the committee chairman agrees, but says he won't hold back when it comes to getting the information he wants. >> we want to know from them how far in their organization the involvement and knowledge went. james murdock has stated publicly that my committee was misled by senior executives who gave that evidence to us two years ago. we'll want to know when he discovered that, who they were and in what way we were misled. >> news international's chief executive, are a we can came brooke, has also agreed to be present at tuesday's hearing. ordering a witness to appear before a house parliamentary committee is a rash event. t rare event. the last time it happened was in 1992. nina? well, as brian todd was just saying there from washington in his piece, rupert murdock has

already been speaking out. and let's bring you a little more about what he's saying about the escalating scandal. now, murdock told the wall street journal, which of course news corporation owns, that the company will conduct its own investigation into the phone hacking allegations. he also said that he believes the company has handled the crisis extremely well so far, making only might minor mistake. and when he asked how he was handling the negative press attention, he said it's annoying, but i'll get over it. he added i'm tired. we're talking about a man who has built a media empire from australia to all four corners of the globe, but he is 80 years old after all. >> and after all this, anyone would be tired, nina. the whole saga has hit news corp shares on the sided any stock exchange. let's take a look at this graft to see how it's been doing. the share price was on the rise

until july 67th right here where you see that peak. that was the day before news corp said it would shut down the news of the world and then after this announcement, you see the slide there. it shed more than 14% in a week. and the latest numbers show that it's still down by about the same amount from that july high. it closed today down another 2.4%. and news corp shares have taken a similar on the nasdaq. well, a frustrated president, a bitterly divided conditioning, and a looming deadline that could trigger a global economic upheaval. just business as usual in washington these days. we'll get you up to speed on the efforts to raise that u.s. debt ceiling right after this.

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[clucking] [ding] [clucking] announcer: separate raw meats from other foods by using different cutting boards. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. keep your family safer. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. welcome back. you're watching wo"world busine today." in just a few hours, barack obama will hold his second news conference on the still unresolved issue of raising the u.s. federal debt ceiling. a warning from standard and poors have added a note of urgency to the proceedings. s and p says it now may down grade the u.s. credit rating

even if they don't miss any interest payment, but if all fails, that's a so-called plan b being developed that might actually say the day. congressional correspondent kate bolduan has more. >> reporter: the federal reserve chairman on capitol hill repeated his stern warning that default could cause chaos. >> i think it would be a calamitous outcome, would create a very is severe financial shock that would have affects not only in the u.s. economy, but global. >> reporter: and the top money man reminded lawmakers of what's at stake. >> we looked at all available options and we have no way to give congress who are time to solve this problem and we're running out of time. the eyes of the country are on us. >> reporter: despite the ominous words, talks are stuck and the finger pointing continues. >> if the president wants to threaten seniors or veterans or rattle the world economy by pretending he can't pay our

bills, he of course can do that. but he's not going to implicate republicans in these efforts. >> reporter: democrats singled out the up in two house republican, eric cantor, even calling him, quote, childish. >> leader cantor has yet to make a constructive contribution to these discussions. more than anything else, he is holding up an agreement at this point. >> reporter: meantime, top republican leaders sought to prevent a unified front amid talk of a rift between boehner and cantor, leading to one of the lighter moments of these negotiationses. >> let me just say is that we have been in this fight together. and any suggestion that the role that eric has played in this meeting has been anything less than helpful is just wrong. >> reporter: and as the meetings continue at the white house, it could be, if there's a light at the end of the tunnel, it's on capitol hill.

senators mitch mccon nell and harry reid working on a possible way out of the debt stalemate. >> we don't have it worked out yet, but it's something we're looking to. hopefully we can come up with this big robust deal we've been trying to get, but until we do that we have to look at other alternatives. >> reporter: it's a complex plan that would allow the president to raise the debt ceiling and also allow congress to vote against it. it may also set up a commission to recommend spending cuts and may include some of the spending cuts already agreed to in these debt talks. the idea got a big boost thursday from house speaker john boehner who said in the absence of anything else, it's a worthy option. kate bolduan, cnn, capitol hill. china is one of the countries is that is quite worried about a possible downgrade on u.s. debt. it's the u.s.'s biggest creditor with more than a trillion dollars of american debt. answering a question about .warnings to washington from the credit rating agencies, a chinese foreign ministry

spokesman said we hope that the u.s. government adopts responsible policies and measures to guarantee the interests of investors. and here's what our own if a re fahreed said. >> i think the chinese government is being very responsible. if they would be playing this insane game of political partisan ship, we would be complaining. the chinese have been very quiet so far and by the way, one of the reasons they're quiet is no one wants to drive those interest rates up. this is the crucial thing to understand. once we drive those interest rates up, they will not come down easily. the global financial system restses on one sort of bedrock and that is that u.s. treasury bills are the safest most lick i had wid cheapest form of debt in the world. if that changes, who knows what it means. people talk about lehman brothers and this being like

lehman brothers. actually this is 100 times more complex and potentially lethal. lehman brothers was a relatively small investment bank that had a big balance sheet. here talking about the full faith and credit of the united states of america, the holder of the reserve currency of the world. who knows what this could mean. >> and we want to give issue results of some new polls out. it seems that house republicans who are refusing to consider revenue increases as part of a debt ceiling deal are out of step with most americans. that's the finding of two new polls and that could spell rubl for the party in elections next year. one poll finds that 67% of respondents favor higher taxes on the rich and also on companies, and a gallup poll shows that only 20% favor a deal that includes only spending cuts. so pretty interesting there. still to come on "world business today" -- >> i think they've injected

themselves into a situation that's beyond their comprehension. >> the credit ratings agency are finding themselves facing a warning of their own coming from no one smaller than the former fed boss paul volcker. that interview here on "world business today" just after this break.

welcome back to "world

business today". let's recap our top story. debt worries on both sides of the atlantic. u.s. debt talks are in a deadlock after a fifth straight day of discussions ended in stalemate. and in europe, as many as one bank in nine banks is expected to fail the euro zone's third annual stress test. and in italy, lawmakers are racing to pass a four year, $57 billion us a airity package. you're looking at live pictures here in the lower house where the debate is still taking place. the senate approved the measures yesterday and we do expect the lower house to approve this austerity package later on today. and nina, lawmakers have acted quite quickly to try to fast track this package and calm the markets. >> it's ironic that a one side of the atlantic in the united states, we have lawmakers trying to get approval to spend more money. here in italy on the other hand,

they're trying to fast track new legislation to stop spending so much money. now, italy aims to zero budget deficit by 2014 and it will have to crack down on tax evasion, which is ripe in this country. i took to the streets of rome to find out just how bad the problem is. this is rome's station, the beating heart of this ancient capital where trains every single data thousands of commuters to and from their jobs. just behind this very building lies the nerve center of this city's underground economy which is populated by people who pay no tax and some of them aren't even supposed to be in the country. the think tank estimates that italy is home to 800,000 illegal migrants who work if cash in hand, but have no access to state services like health care and housing benefits. one such worker who has been in the country for eight years agreed to talk to us anonymously.

he owns 900 euros a month, about $15,000 a year, cleaning rich romans houses. he doesn't pay tax, but still, it's not enough to keep a wife and two sons. >> when i go to work, then i see the police they always say documents. so i go the other way. it's better for me if i'm held living in italy because i just want to find another job just like my provision in the philippines. i just want to stay here. >> reporter: tax evasion and organized crime cost italys lost revenues equal to 27% of its gdp each year according according to the imf.

rome is at the front line and business off the balance sheet is booming. >> the problem of tax evasion is significant even because of the financial crisis. in the last six months, we have discovered the same evasion than of the last year. >> reporter: some who don't pay their dues are professional als like lawyers and doctors whose self-employed status makes earnings difficult to track. experts say it cannot continue in a country struggling get caught up in the european debt crisis. >> there's and he huge shadow. people don't pay taxes and there is a sensation among people that the tax evasion is an issue that needs to be fixed. >> reporter: here are some interesting statistics for you. only italy and greece among the world's 30 richest nations grouped together since the oecd

have the highest rates of tax evasion rates. and what a lot of people here in rome have been telling me is how is the government going to hope to crack down on tax evasion when the prime minister berlusconi himself is on trial for it. that's a thought for you. >> yeah, that's the biggest irony of all, isn't it? those are pretty staggering statistics that you gave us there. all right, nina, thanks so much. on that note, let's take a look at the european stock markets and see how they're doing. we're now just over an hour and a half into the trading day. and the leading indices are all in negative territory. as i mentioned earlier, there seems to be a lot of caution, a lot of concern ahead of the stress test results. the 90 banks that have been tested and were supposed to see the test results by the end of the day. meanwhile, in italy, if we take a look at the main stock market there, milan's index there is

down almost a third of a percent. not doing too well either as also in italy, that has the been the focus as lawmakers are trying to pass that austerity package and some of experts saying even if the austerity measures do pass, is it enough to create sustainable interest rates for the bond market in italy. so that's one of the big questions there. but in all, the general concern is over the banking sector, the financial situation of some of these euro zone countries. and the stress test results later on today. let's take a look at how the asian markets finished the week. it was a bit of a mixed back today on this friday. the nikkei ended up by about 0.4 and hang seng down by about a third of a percent. the shanghai composite had a choppy session today where property stocks were under pressure but the composite was

up at the end of the day. now let's take a look at u.s. futures. they're pointing to a mostly lower open when trading gets under way on wall street in a couple of hours from now. knee made? with these debt concerns, having people very worried on both sides of the atlantic, we thought we'd try to get the views from the former u.s. fed chairman paul volcker. he's the kind of person you'd think would have some pretty strong views on this. he actually stepped down earlier this year from his position as the head of president obama's economic advisory board. he spoke to jim bolden and jim asked him about the long term effects of near zero interest rates. take a listen to what he had to say about that. >> i don't like that it's low so long, but the explanation is that the economy is not behaving appropriately. so i'm not going to say it's inappropriate, but it is an uncomfortable situation that we

have sechessentially zero inter rates for a long time. this has gone on for quite a while without much investment return. >> are you worried about deflation or inflation? >> i'm a constant worrier about inflation and i think there's been too much worrying about deflation. i think the chronic worry is the worry abouten nation. that doesn't say that the inflation animal or bull or whatever it is is lurking right over the picture at the moment. >> so you don't think the fed should be raising rates anytime soon? >> not right now. that's unlikely. you would love to see rates more normalized, but when you can get there is the question. >> let's look at this issue about the debt ceiling in the u.s. we've had some of the rating agencies beginning to warn that maybe the aaa rating could go. do you think the aaa rating is in danger or is this all posturing? >> i don't like the role of the credit rating issues. i think they've injected

themselves into a situation that's beyond their comprehension. the united states is going to pay its debts and playing around with this rating agency thing at the moment is i don't think very helpful. it's not as it the record has been so distinguished they deserve special precedence in this area. >> one of the things us noneconomists have had to learn about is quantitative easing. we've had two. do you expect there will be a third in the u.s.? >> it's up to the federal reserve, but i think -- i don't like the idea of this qe-1, qe-2. it dramatizes something that i don't think is really that dramatic. what this consists of basically is the federal reserve has decided to enter the long term bond market which for decades. >> let me ask you about the euro and all the talk is about default. would you expect a european country to possibly have to default even if it's a technical

default? >> i wouldn't rule it out depending upon how the situation is taken care of. i think this is a real crisis for the euro and europe as to how this is handled. and i don't think that what's called a technical default should upset europe, but you have to be prepared to deal with this with very i think consistent and forceful being as by the leadership. >> people say there's not a lot of leadership in europe. >> that's the real question. will the leadership rise to this challenge. because i think it is a very real challenge and if they don't, even a minor default becomes very disturbing. >> that he another former u.s. fed chairman paul volcker speaking with our jim bolden saying that there's a very real possibility that one of the euro zone countries could default and he was also quite critical of

the credit ratings agencies, as well. let's bring nina back in. she's been live in rome all week. and nina, i'm curious to get your take on what the average italian is saying on the street. you've been there in rome for about four days this week, popping in and out of stores and talking with taxi cab drivers and cafes. what are people saying about these austerity measures? do they feel that it's a bitter pill that they all have to take eventually? >> there is to a certain extent quite a bit of cohesion here. a lot of people have been quite surprised that the government has managed to move so quickly on these austerity measure, with you then again, although the italians do realize they have to make sacrifices, they are concerned that the bulk of these measures will hit the middle classes rather than the top people in society who are the richest. and that brings me on to another interesting point.

of course the prime minister of this country is one of the richest people in the world. and so a lot of people have been saying it's a question of do as i say and not do as i do. we should also point out the senior berlusconi has been con speck uhe husbandly absent throughout this process. a lot of people say perhaps that's because i doesn't want to see his face being shown in public in connection with unpopular messages. and that has led to a rift from imand the who has we speak is trying to push this bill through the senate. >> very interesting. all right. we'll see you in a couple hours. but for the moment, that's all for this 45 minutes of "world business today." thanks for joining us.

announcer: when life's this hard, it's no wonder 7,000 students drop out every school day. visit boostup.org and help kids in your community stay in school. this week, creating a path to recovery as protesters continue to demonstrate in tahrir square, the presidential candidate explains how he can ease tensions. plus -- a land of opportunity. we take a look at the potential

for investment in south sudan. an uncertain future in egypt despite concessions from the prime minister. it was announced he'll reshovel his cabinet and call for trials of former officials accused of killing protesters to be open to the public. but some say that's not good enough. demonstrators have a list of demands for the government from putting the accused officers on trial to ending the country's military rule. the former u.n. nuclear chief is now a presidential candidate in egypt and he believes that there is just cause for the ongoing protests. >> i think they have absolute right to feel frustrated and let down. things are going very slow. justice is being delayed. security is not back in force.

all the olded apparatus of the minister of interior are still in place. there is no clear road map as how we're going to cross the transition to a free and fair election. so there's a lot of frustration, a lot of angst, a lot of divisiveness. so it's a bit messy. >> what would you do specifically that the military is not doing right now? in fairness, they've had their hands very full in the last five months. >> what i'd do is have a clear road map. who is going to write the constitution, how we're going to have the assembly established, when are we going to have the presidential election. we need milestones. and we don't have any of that. >> as you know, the government did do something right and that is bring in $50 billion over a five year window to 2010. how would you make egypt business friendly while still trying to deal with the grinding

poverty in the country? and this is the big challenge going forward. >> there's a huge interest in investing in egypt because that's a lot of opportunities and nobody wants to see egypt fall down -- go down the drain because of the impact on the entire region. so we have the human resources, we have the financial resources. what we need to see proper transition. and once we have so-called stability and people know what is expecting tomorrow being i think we will be able to move forward but put a lot of priority on those who are disenfranchised, but making sure also that egypt is ready for business. because we need all the money we can get right now. >> could we have the danger of slipping in to a second revolution with all these people forming in tahrir square because of their frustrations? >> one of the distinguishing feature of the revolution, it was amazingly peaceful and we'd all like to keep it peaceful.

but if people feel that the wretch soluti revolution is delayed, that there is no impact on their life, that there is no security, then it could get ugly and that's why i hope that the message will go loud and clear to the army that i think people fear things are not going the right direction. >> do you think your gulf neighbors and the international monetary fund, the g-8 who promised money, are doing enough, did they get that sense of urgency that something must be done five months after the revolution? >> i think they have the sense of urgency, but they have to deliver the goods. what i know that the money has not been yet deposits in egypt and we are going through a very precarious period in terms of financial situation, in terms of the budget. but they are aware that this is a must because egypt has to move forward, has to be a road map

for the rest of the world otherwise god help us. >> elbaradei speaking from cairo. getting access to revenues is also an issue that faces the world's newest country. south sudan marked its independence with celebrations in the country's capital of juba. since 2003, foreign direct investment into both sudans reached more than $13 billion. the middle east accounts for a quarter of that amount with the investment in the construction, communication, energy and the farm sectors. qatar heeds the way with the projects. the uae, egypt and lebanon follow suit. with little infrastructure or government, south sudan will be looking for a lot of foreign investment from the middle east and elsewhere. >> reporter: as the flag rises, so do the expectations of its people. after decades of civil war and conflict, they're hoping this is the beginning of a better life.

>> this coming year after the transition may well define the trajectory and health of the new country both in plig and economic terms. >> reporter: it's not just the far east. sending a high level delegation to the celebrations. in spite of their split with the arab north, the southern sudanese are lacking across the red sea to the middle east. ahead of the country's formal declaration of independence, he traveled to the united arab emirates to announce that his government will hold an investment conference in dubai this autumn. several suggest that south sudan has at best another 10 to 15 years of oil researrvines left.

they deny the reports. but they have land. it's incredibly fertile land. 40% of the my basin can be found here and most of that land is currently underutilized. countries like kenya's commercial bank that came into sudan immediately after the signing of the 2005 peace deal are already seeing substantial rewards. >> as we speak, we have 18 operational projects spread across all of south sudan. we have been here for quite a while. we've seen a lot of organizations taking a wait and sigh position. i would encourage them to come. >> reporter: but there are big challenges. they attract more than $500 billion u.s. dollars in investment over the next five years just to build up its infrastructure and in spite of its oil wealth, there are

crippling fuel strategies. it's betting it very survival on investors deciding the return will outweigh the risks. one area that can offer a boost to the country's economy near term is oil. up next, we take a look at south sudan's plans for the energy sector in an interview with its investment minister. any questions? no. you know... ♪ we're not magicians ♪ we can't read your mind ♪ ♪ read your mind ♪ we need your questions ♪ each and every kind ♪ every kind ♪ will this react with my other medicine? ♪ ♪ hey, what are all these tests even for? ♪ ♪ questions are the answer ♪ yeah ♪ oh

when south sudan gained independence, it walked away with sudan's biggest natural resource, oil. most of it is produced in the south, but refining and good port operations are handled in the north. around 15 oil companies operate in south sudan. but when cnn sat down with the investment minister, he said these contracts will come under more scrutiny. >> we will look at them critically and make sure that the country and the company also to be happy. >> will the contracts with the chinese companies be reviewed? >> with so many country, we have chinese, malaysia, india, we will not be selective. the people would want to be happy. can hes are not good flighting

resources. no reason why we can allow one to monopolize the resources. we want many companies to come in. >> waef been seeing the cues for fuel. as a potential investor coming in, that is possibly something that could be quite worrying that at any point because you're still importing your fuel from the north because you tonight have refining capacities here that this could impact potential for property development. >> that's a serious problem. and it is part of it, but we wanted to maintain with the north because what happened here, they were built during a time when sudan was at war. now the war is over, we want a small refinery to be built in south sudan. and while we're working to build those refinery, we want our border to be open.

>> you seem to be taking a two pronged approach to this. china is already the largest investor in your oil sector, but you also you seem to be targeting the arab world quite heavily, as well. >> we are open to all investors from all over the world. last year some companies from the arab countries have come and now investing in south sudan. so we are looking, we are looking at the whole world. that's it for this edition. thanks for watching. we'll see you next week.