00:00 Time now for some business news then and for that Solange Moujon, our business editor is
00:03 here in the studio with me.
00:05 Solange, you're starting us off with the state of the Chinese economy as its recovery continues
00:10 to falter.
00:11 Yeah, the risk of deflation is hitting the Chinese economy.
00:15 After last month's zero inflation on consumer prices, well, today the Chinese Bureau of
00:19 Statistics published its June product prices and for the ninth month, the trading price
00:25 of products continued to shrink.
00:28 They dropped to 5.4 percent.
00:31 They dropped 5.4 percent in June compared to last year, and that is a nearly 1 percent
00:36 dip compared to May's prices.
00:39 This is the steepest decline in producer prices that China has seen since December 2015, and
00:46 it shows that China is still struggling to revitalize demand and growth after COVID and
00:51 amidst tensions with the United States.
00:53 It is too early to see if tentative cooperation and renewed diplomacy with the U.S. will help
00:59 the Chinese economy for data.
01:01 This data is from before Janet Yellen's visit this past weekend.
01:05 She praised the renewal of diplomacy during her 10 hours of talks with senior officials.
01:12 These conversations were direct, substantive and productive.
01:17 There is an important distinction between decoupling on the one hand and on the other
01:23 hand diversifying critical supply chains.
01:28 We're taking targeted national security actions.
01:32 We know that a decoupling of the world's two largest economies would be disastrous for
01:39 both countries and destabilizing for the world.
01:44 Now the Chinese finance minister also echoed Yellen's pledge of improving relations, saying
01:50 that Beijing also welcomes a renewal of talks.
01:53 But Beijing also added that the U.S. should, quote, take practical action in regard to
01:59 sanctions.
02:00 All right, Solange, well, you're going to be taking us now to Sri Lanka.
02:03 It's been a year since President Rajapaksa fled the country after unrest precisely over
02:07 its economic woes.
02:08 Yeah, one year later, Sri Lanka is still in economic trouble.
02:13 But aid has come in, namely in the form of a $2.9 billion IMF bailout and more recently
02:20 a $700 million aid package from the World Bank.
02:25 Those packages have borne fruits.
02:27 Its central bank expects growth to resume this quarter after six quarters of contraction.
02:32 But last month, inflation was still at 12 percent after it peaked in September when
02:37 it was at a whopping 70 percent.
02:40 The 12 percent is still too high, though, and inflation continues to have a dire effect
02:44 on the poor, which now make up some 25 percent of Sri Lankans or some 7 million people.
02:50 Lizza Kamenov has the story.
02:54 At the age of 75, Milton Pereira has sunken cheeks and trouble breathing.
03:00 The air in his house is damp because of a water leak, which the local council has failed
03:04 to repair due to lack of funds.
03:07 He eases his asthma with an inhaler, which the government provided free of charge until
03:12 a few months ago.
03:16 Life is harder than it was last year.
03:17 We're spending a lot of money on medication.
03:20 In Sri Lanka, the price of basic necessities has rocketed, with water and electricity bills
03:25 doubling in the last year.
03:27 Former President Rajapaksa was blamed for the island's worst economic crisis in 75 years,
03:33 with fuel and food shortages, blackouts and rising inflation.
03:38 Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans were hoping for change, starting months of protests in
03:43 2022, which prompted the president to flee the country.
03:47 But since his ousting one year ago, the country remains deep in $42 billion of domestic debt.
03:54 Rajapaksa's successor cut subsidies and doubled taxes, but many residents remain unconvinced
03:59 and are looking for ways to leave Sri Lanka.
04:02 Queues are growing outside the immigration department in Colombo as more and more residents
04:07 apply for a passport.
04:09 The cost is going high, you know.
04:11 Every day is going high, but the salary amount is the same.
04:16 The companies are not increasing salaries.
04:19 So that's why we are trying to leave.
04:21 Sri Lanka has announced a debt restructuring plan, with the International Monetary Fund
04:26 approving an aid package valued at nearly $3 billion.
04:31 Finally, from Solange then, there is some good news about efforts to clean up the Seine
04:36 River.
04:37 Yeah, bathing in the Seine was actually outlawed 100 years ago in 1923 because of pollution.
04:44 But on Sunday, the Paris mayor's office unveiled three areas of the Seine River that will be
04:49 swimmable by 2025.
04:51 The city says that these swimmable portions of the Seine will be possible due to cleanup
04:56 efforts, filtration systems and converting some freight traffic to electric barges.
05:01 It will also be a legacy of the Olympics as the opening ceremony and events will be held
05:07 in and on the Seine, as was the case in the first Paris Olympics in 1900.
05:13 But Anne Hidalgo says the Olympics isn't the sole motivation here.
05:17 It's providing a place for Parisians to cool down during the increasingly sweltering heat
05:22 waves.
05:23 "We are in the midst of climate change.
05:27 The Paris mayor's office has never denied this, and so we are making very significant
05:31 investments.
05:32 We are transforming the city.
05:34 These significant investments will enable us to live in a city where temperatures of
05:38 50 degrees Celsius are forecast.
05:41 Scientists have carried out these studies.
05:43 In 30 years' time, such 50-degree temperatures would make the city unlivable if we don't
05:48 make the necessary changes."
05:53 As Anne Hidalgo mentioned, the city has made colossal investments to clean up the waterway.
05:58 It unveiled a 1.4 billion euro plan in 2016 to make the Seine swimmable and safe to swim
06:05 in, and this is paying off.
06:08 This past month, 70% of the biological tests done on the river came back with good or excellent
06:13 results.
06:14 But there is still a major issue, which is rain runoff.
06:17 The Greater Paris Region is investing 300 million euros for five infrastructure projects,
06:24 notably canals, that will keep some of the polluted rainwater and especially sewage from
06:29 running into the Seine untreated.
06:31 But the takeaway, Erin, is that Paris' Joule will soon be swimmable again like it was over
06:37 100 years ago.
06:38 Solange Moujon, I must say I do have a hard time imagining it, but I'm sure it'll be
06:43 welcome when it happens.
06:44 I'm going to let other people try first and then I'll talk more.
06:47 I totally agree.
06:48 So much for Jean with business.
06:49 Thank you very much.
06:49 Thank you very much.
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