a fed meeting with no surprises the u.s. central bank raises interest rates once again and the markets show mixed reactions will go to wall street to find out what's ahead for the u.s. economy. but also on the program europe gets tough on tech giants of voiding taxes brussels introduces a new tax loss that will hit silicon valley. for business on the w m how you know i guess welcome to the program in a highly anticipated meeting the u.s. federal reserve announced a further rate hike of twenty five basis points for short term rates and also upgraded the outlook for the u.s. economy the press conference that followed the meetings was particular as it was the first one for general powell as new fed chair pauwels message is that the fundamentals of the u.s. economy are on a positive course the job market remains strong the economy continues to expand and

inflation appears to be moving toward the two percent longer run the quarter point rise is the fourth in the span of a year and it continues the fed's move away from recession era trend of cheap borrowing to encourage stimulus another rate increase was widely expected by markets although some observers wondered if powell might speed up the timeline of bringing rates back up power places former chairwoman janet yellen following his nomination by president trump last year but his powell made clear the latest rate hike continues the work of his predecessor is gradual process has been underway for more than two years and it has served and should continue to serve the economy well . and the board is unlikely to change course soon two more quarter percent hikes are expected this year. and of course the financial markets were listening very closely at the words of the federal reserve u.s. caught our financial correspondent is on wall street and has been following the

story for us yes hi it's good to see you well we saw the announcement by the federal reserve and mixed reactions and wall street could say yeah it was an up and down session pretty wild what we saw here especially after the fed meeting it is not unusual that on the day of the fed meeting itself traders need some time to figure out what actually has changed and what not so we might get a better picture in thursday's trading but what is showing from this fed meeting that the federal reserve might become a bit more aggressive a few more rate hikes was in the next two years and then expected that is in general good news for banks so they profit from higher rates but on the other side especially if you look at capital intensive industries like some technology companies for them money becomes more expensive and therefore also their investments and so we especially saw technology companies getting under some

pressure here in the late hours of trading and at the end of the day we finished in negative territory here on wall street. on wall street thank you very much. well yes was just mentioning the tech companies that are under pressure and this story could affect them even more european authorities continue to crack down on tax evasion and have now announced concrete measures against tech giants precisely like apple facebook or google they will now have to pay more and stop declaring taxes in the country with the lowest taxation by cairo the measure could benefit public finances in several european countries but could also scare away international investments. ireland is popular with tech giants who want to lower their tax bill the firms concentrate their business activities in places where tax rates are especially advantageous that's why apple google and facebook have their european headquarters on the emerald isle but the e.u.

commission wants to change that they plan to impose a special three percent tax on certain divisions within the tech giants today's proposal. simply about fair for all companies there about creating the right environment for. businesses and they are about future proofing. markets so that collectively we can rise to the challenges of globalized and digital. age and in the future tech companies would also be taxed where they sell their products and not just where they're registered that would mean a nice windfall for public coffers at the same time as drawing out european tax. well you've seen it in the news lately if there's a tariff conflict turnley unfolding between the u.s. and its trade partners and in the midst of it african leaders just signed the creation of the african continental free trade area let's take

a look at what it implies that in visions the largest free trade agreement created since the world trade organization was created in one thousand nine hundred ninety five the aim is to include all these fifty five member states of the african union one day but starting with up to forty four states until the end of this year now if the free trade zone actually comes into being it would create a single market with attractive numbers up to one point two billion people a gross domestic product of two point five trillion u.s. dollars combined and even if the countries would lose money from tariffs they would still generate about sixteen billion dollars in long term world's fair it sounds like a great idea as usual but as often happens it's easier said than done. africa is a potentially gigantic market of up to one point two billion people many of them desperately poor the new agreement is a major step towards improving the lot. their promise of

a free trade and free movement is prosperity for africans because we are proud of ties in the production of goods and sciences that. med enough. by boosting intra african trade the forty four participating countries hope to reduce their dependence on raw materials exports right now africa's countries only do about sixteen percent of their total trade with each other the new agreement is expected to come into effect in one hundred eighty days time though it first has to be ratified by each country's parliament. we need. to some of that required political week. for the african continent free that it. to finally become

a reality but to really boost trade african countries will first have to invest in their infrastructure things like roads which connect the countries with each other so the products can actually move around freely. now speaking of infrastructure japan has an arguer it a new solar power plant near tokyo but it's unlike any other in a country where land is scars as we know the japanese had to come up with a creative solution for a system that requires a lot of space like a solar power plant here's a look at their brand new floating solar power plant. the new plant built by kyoto based ceramics and electronics giant sarah floats in the middle of a reservoir the solar array comprising more than fifty thousand panels covers about one thousand had tears of a dam in chiba prefecture or at the commissioning ceremony a kind of sarah spokesman indicated the plant could be the first of many like it. when they handle there's so many reservoirs we hope that this project will let us

expand our business throughout japan by making use of them with a muscle to put on according to the state the weakness of. the operator claims it is the biggest solar power plant on water in japan and you output is projected at more than sixteen million kilowatt hours that's enough to power around five thousand households for a year the plant began operating earlier this month two years behind schedule the french multinational c l a ten which developed the technology says the cooling effect of water on the solar panels increases their energy production and makes them more efficient than land based systems of a similar size the panels also shield the water from the sun and reduce evaporation . now among the many many consequences of the u.k. leaving the european union one of the most controversial ones is the fate of gibraltar the british colony on spain's southernmost tip voted almost unanimously

against brics and as negotiations seem to progress the country's governor continues to insist that the reason may has to take gibraltar special status into consideration the local economy is also trying to take a guess for what's next. it's lunchtime here in the restaurant world trade center and anyone eating here who wants to pay with crypto currency bitcoin no problem speed transactions easy transactions of people taking back control of their own money away from. banks and governments and i think it's death in the future the way of things moving. this man is determined to be part of that future gibraltar's finance minister has made sure that his country is probably the first in the world to regulate block chains a technology that will shape daily life in the future from insurance to buying music online. we want to promote safe good quality business with consumer

protection but at the same time to promote innovation to happen from. action the regulations were brought in in january sparking the interest of companies and countries worldwide these two london based investors came here recently as part of a fin tech conference to check things out. eighty travel and malcolm paul spent the conference looking for new business ideas they're considering opening an office here soon you need protection you need. rules to follow so that's what is very special is that you brought us created this and he has attracted experts that attracted intrapreneur. especially in this area so it's a great way to actually gather the right people the right skills to develop your company in this space gibraltar's economy has been transformed radically over the past few decades as a way of surviving and now there's block chain technology and because that pays no

heed to national borders it could mean that gibraltar can rest easy even after bricks it. that was a double business thanks for watching karen. we've . we've we've . we've

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