Can Japan's stimulus package get its economy going?
Or is the country just taking on more debt?
It's World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
I'm Leanna Byrne.
We'll find out why global markets have slipped back down and how much is the wicked sequel set to earn opening weekend.
It's a financial consulting company in Tokyo, and he shared his thoughts on the package in a series of voice notes.
Stimulus packages in Japan are a fairly regular thing, to be honest.
This one in particular is very high profile to address primarily the cost of living here in Japan by doing something to help households with the monthly bills and the cost of energy.
Most of this is imported and with a very weak yen, it is causing some problems somewhat, not just with households but also with the small and medium-sized enterprises.
So there's investment going into some sectors of the industry.
There will be some grants for the small companies.
And then of course, some assistance for households with their weekly budgeting.
And what about inflation?
That's currently a problem for Japan.
Surely if people get more money in their pocket, that could send prices rising.
Well, Neil Newman doesn't think so.
I doubt these measures will actually stoke inflation.
It may have some limited effect on it.
It may have a short-term impact on bringing inflation down.
But the longer-term fix really now is to strengthen the yen.
And this will be between a combination of the Bank of Japan raising its policy rate, probably in conjunction with the Fed lowering its rates.
So what would this package mean for the ordinary people of Japan?
Christy Govella is Associate Professor at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford and she explains
In the last couple of elections, it's become really clear that the Japanese people are deeply concerned about high prices inflation, the weak yen,
They're really feeling the impact in their daily lives, with high costs of staples like rice, for example.
So the idea is that the stimulus package is supposed to ease some of these burdens through cash handouts and support programs and to make them feel like the government is addressing their real needs.
But it's yet to be decided or to seen whether they have this outcome.
Is Japan taking a bit of a risk because their debt is quite high, isn't it?
Japanese debt is quite high.
It generally has been considered to be low risk because it's predominantly held by Japanese citizens or stakeholders.
But Japan has been issuing government bonds for many purposes.
And in this particular stimulus package there will be a portion that has to be funded by government bonds as well.
Why were the markets so nervous about this package, do you think?
In terms of markets.
People are very worried that the stimulus is going to drive the yen even lower, worsen the inflationary tendencies.
It's really just not clear yet. what this does for Japan in the long term.
And, even more recently, its relationship with China isn't going so well after Prime Minister Takeuchi made comments about Taiwan.
Could this play into Japan's economic outlook?
So we've seen China, for example, discourage Chinese citizens from traveling to Japan, which could seriously impact tourism.
And we've also seen them reinstitute a ban on Japanese seafood.
Right now, these are early signs, but Japan and China are key economic partners.
So there is a risk that if China begins to ramp things up or to restrict key exports of things like rare earths, then it could have serious economic impact.
So a stimulus package like this is all the more important, perhaps.
It is important for Japanese citizens.
It's also important as a sign of...
Prime Minister Takeuchi's ability to govern.
So this is really her first key signature policy.
And it's coming at a time when she's facing really tough domestic and foreign policy challenges.
That was Christy Gavella, University of Oxford.
Now, Randeep Samal, Fund Manager at M&G Investments is with me.
Randeep, global markets not doing so well this Friday.
Is it because of the stimulus package or is there something more?
No, I think it's just a follow on from yesterday's pullback in US technology shares.
That has carried on today.
And this morning, not just Japan but across all of Asia.
We saw markets down about two and a half percent.
I think there's just some concerns that the world economy might be teetering.
Yeah, I'm getting whiplash from global economies this week Randi, because yesterday it was all about highs.
And now we're seeing that rebound for stocks, as you mentioned, and also Bitcoin took a dive, didn't it?
It is.
I mean, Bitcoin is the ultimate bullish security to hold.
So when people start getting a bit worrisome, it's usually the one to go first.
And it's now down to about $84,000.
That's up from a high of $125,000 in early October.
Also, oil prices are down.
That's possibly, probably a reaction to the US pushing for this Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
What do you make of that?
It is indeed.
If Russia wants a peace deal now, they will certainly say that they want their commodities, especially gas and oil, to be exportable back on the global market.
That will then supply oil into an already well-supplied market.
And we've seen European Brent down over a dollar today, down to 61.
All right, Randeep Somal, fund manager at M&G Investments.
Thank you so much.
Travelling by air to, from or within Australia, then you'll soon be banned from using power banks on flights.
You know, those things you can charge devices off.
Well, big airlines like Qantas and Virgin Australia say while you can bring them on the plane, you just can't use them anymore because they are a fire risk.
As we use artificial intelligence more at work, it may lead to fewer entry-level graduate jobs.
That's according to the global chair of PwC in an interview with the BBC.
However, Mohamed Kandi denied that AI was behind recent job cuts at the firm.
He was speaking to our business reporter Nick Marsh in Singapore.
How can companies use artificial intelligence to do what they do today better and also cheaper?
We have seen some progress in around the productivity improvement agenda for many companies, but this has not led necessarily into job reductions.
We, even we at PwC, we have given access to artificial intelligence to most, if not all, of our employees today.
We have seen productivity improvement, but AI is augmenting our people, not replacing our people.
You recently walked back plans to hit hiring targets, 100,000 new employees.
What was behind that?
Now I will tell you when we made the plans to hire that many people.
It was a few years ago, I would say three to four years ago.
The world was very, very different.
Now you have artificial intelligence.
Not only we might need that many people, but we need also different people.
For example, today, across the PwC network, we are looking for hundreds and hundreds of engineers.
We just cannot find them.
So you're going to be continuing to hire the same number of entry-level graduates?
I don't know if it's going to be the same level of people that we hire.
It will be a different set of people.
But we are going to make sure that we have the right skill set for the right jobs.
Let me talk about the other side of AI, the environmental costs.
Because we don't really know exactly how much these AI models use in terms of energy.
The big companies are quite secretive.
I'm not sure that they all know, actually, because things are changing so fast.
That is the thing.
We are in a world where it is hard to predict the answers.
We have not seen a level of technology innovation accelerating so fast.
That was the global chair of PwC, Mohamed Kandi, speaking to our business reporter, Nick Marsh, in Singapore.
Now, today, it's the day that many fans of musicals have been waiting for.
Wicked is back in cinemas.
The much-anticipated sequel Wicked for Good is a spin-off from The Wizard of Oz.
Last year, Wicked became the highest-grossing movie musical of all time, making 700 million globally and boosting industry revenue.
Sales projections range between 112 million and 115 million just for the film's first weekend alone.
And that's it from World Business Express from the BBC World Service with me, Leanna Byrne.
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Have a great weekend.
Thanks so much for listening.
