hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. the head of the us central bank has dashed hopes that interest rates will come down any time soon. jerome powell said data showed inflation isn't quite where he'd like to see it in order to start easing monetary policy. michelle fleury has more from new york. higherfor longer. that is the message from america's top banker, jerome powell on us interest rates. the chair of the federal reserve said policymakers hadn't seen enough progress on inflation since its rapid decline last year. and with inflation likely to take longer to return to the fed's desired target of 2%, a cut in rates, he said, didn't seem justified. we've said at the fomc that we'll need greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2% before it would be appropriate to ease policy. you know, we took that cautious approach and, sought that greater confidence so as not to overreact

to the string of low inflation readings that we had in the second half of last year. the recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence and instead indicate that it's likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence. today's remarks highlight the different paths being taken by central banks around the world, with the european central bank's christine lagarde reaffirming that the ecb was still on track to cut rates. many people expect the ecb will cut rates injune. now, the timing of the first rate cut here in the united states this cycle has become a subject of much debate from main street to wall street to the campaign trail. the fed had previously signalled it intended to cut rates several times this year from a 23—year high of 5.5 %. us stocks fell after mr powell spoke. here's how stock markets fared in the us after mr powell's comments.

the s&p 500, nasdaq and the dow closed slightly lower. the federal reserve�*s next policy meeting will start at the end of april. tensions in the middle east have also been weighing on markets. and the conflict in the region has been cited as a risk to recovery for the global economy by the international monetary fund. in its annual report, the imf said growth would remain steady this year largely propped up by emerging economies like india. but high inflation and weak demand in china and europe are major challenges. the bbc�*s economics editor faisal islam has more from washington dc. we have got new numbers from the imf, theirforecast for the world economy, and it shares a world economy, and it shares a world economy, and it shares a world economy that is more resilience and mainly driven by what is happening here in the us and in some emerging economies, such as india. there is a big black cloud over the world economy in terms of the

economic consequences of what is happening in the middle east. actually, the impact in energy and oil markets has been far less than expected given what happened over the weekend, they really haven't been affected much not so much of the attention is what is happening at the world central bank, the ramped up interest rates over the past few years, trying to deal with the inflation shock, and it had been expected that we had turned a corner and that there be a fewer interest—free cuts from the us federal reserve and the bank of england. markets are in doubt about that right now, suggesting those cuts, there'll be fewer of them and it come later in the year, which is one of the key debates here in the us as the imf and world bank, globalfinance world bank, global finance ministers world bank, globalfinance ministers and bankers meet in the us to discuss the future of rates and central bank policy and the world economy. over the next six weeks, india

will vote in an election where prime minister narendra modi is contesting a third term. archana shukla takes stock of the cost of the largest democratic exercise in the world. the stage is all set. 970 million indian voters decide on who runs the country for the next five years. the scale and magnitude of this election bigger than ever before. 5.5 million electronic voting machines, 15 million polling officers, and a million polling stations. indian elections are the most expensive in the world. more than $8 billion were spent in 2019 general elections, and this year the numbers are expected to double. interestingly, the cost of conducting elections isjust 15% to 20% of this figure. the rest spent on political campaigning more than ever. political parties are flush with cash, mainly through something called electoral bonds, a controversial scheme that allowed for people and companies to donate

anonymously to political parties. $2 billion were raised through these bonds until february, when supreme court banned them. more than half the proceeds went to prime minister modi's ruling bjp party, making them the richest political party going into elections. this election is nothing but corporatisation of the poll campaign interpretation of the trajectory of the development and democracy and the governance. the money which is floating around is going to be at least three times more than what it was into 2019. while there is a cap on how much an individual candidate can spend on campaigning, there is no limit on political parties spending. and hence extensive travels, rallies and road shows, many opting for expensive helicopters and jets. i invite you tojoin politics. and this time around, advertising on digital

platforms, including using social media influencers, is estimated to cost nearly 15% of the entire campaign budget. and then there are the freebies and gifts given during campaigning, such as appliances, bicycles, laptops. and what's most difficult to trace are the illegal cash hand—outs given directly to the voters, which never make it to the official book—keeping. already so far, regulator has seized more than $600 million worth of illegal cash, alcohol and drugs connected to election campaigning, clearly showing the scale of the role black money plays in indian elections and the challenges authorities have in stamping it out. archana shukla, bbc news, mumbai. new zealand's prime minister christopher luxon has wrapped up his first official visit to singapore and will be spending the rest of his asia tour in thailand, and the philippines. i caught up with the prime minister and asked if he is concerned about brain drain — as latest figures showed

a record annual loss of 117,000 new zealand citizens half of whom relocated to neighbouring australia for better prospects. so that we can lower interest rates, grow the economy and keep up in employment. the exciting thing is how we grow our economy and take it forward from here the stop that is the of why we are traveling through the region, we think we can do the region, we think we can do the over exports in the next ten years, i checked foreign investment to new zealand to support some of the investment and infrastructure we want to make. i think we have an exciting future. yes, some short—term problems to work through, i run cost—of—living and inflation, you see that

story in other countries around the world post—pandemic, but we are working diligently and conscientiously to try to get money back into government spending. money back into government sendina. ., money back into government spending-— spending. one of the first thin to spending. one of the first thing to do _ spending. one of the first thing to do was _ spending. one of the first thing to do was reverse . spending. one of the first l thing to do was reverse and anti—smoking law. we thing to do was reverse and anti-smoking law.— thing to do was reverse and anti-smoking law. we want to track our _ anti-smoking law. we want to track our foreign _ anti-smoking law. we want to track our foreign capital - anti-smoking law. we want to track our foreign capital and i track our foreign capital and domestic capital and work with pilot capital to build up infrastructure for our roads and core infrastructure injuries on. is and core infrastructure injuries on.— and core infrastructure injuries on. is it seen as a cuick injuries on. is it seen as a quick win _ injuries on. is it seen as a quick win or— injuries on. is it seen as a quick win or easy - injuries on. is it seen as a quick win or easy when? l injuries on. is it seen as a i quick win or easy when? we injuries on. is it seen as a - quick win or easy when? we have an astounding — quick win or easy when? we have an astounding piece _ quick win or easy when? we have an astounding piece of— an astounding piece of legislation because smoke—free legislation because smoke—free legislation in new zealand, he wants it it's only 5% of daily smokers. we see in our daily smoking rates go down they've gone from like 70% to just under 6.8%, and fell another two points over the course of the last 12 months, so we've had a piece of legislation and policy that is worked well for

new zealand. we disagreed with the approach of the preserves government because we thought they would drive more grime and create a black market for cigarettes which is something we don't support.— cigarettes which is something we don't support. you're moving from the private _ we don't support. you're moving from the private industry - we don't support. you're moving from the private industry to - from the private industry to public service, and how you decided to make that transition.— decided to make that transition. �* . ., ., transition. i'm a passionate new zealander _ transition. i'm a passionate new zealander and - transition. i'm a passionate new zealander and have i transition. i'm a passionate. new zealander and have had transition. i'm a passionate - new zealander and have had the privilege of working around the world for six in years but i believe in our country and its potential, i wanted to in involved in involved in public service, so coming into politics three years ago, it is been fantastic experience. i think there's a lot that is transferable from the commercial world into the role i had, particularly in the leadership scores required, and we've all been going through a tough time economically, new zealand is no different, so someone who understands the economy and commerce is important because it's only by stronger economy that we get the public services that we all deserve and need. it's only by strong economy that we set a future of our kids and

grandkids and actually make new zealand a great place to live, so i'm excited about that work. she's someone we all recognise. the duchess of sussex has revealed a product of her new business venture — strawberryjam. she seems to have shared the treat with friends and influencers, including argentine socialite delfina blaquier, who posted about it on instagram. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching.

hiya. i'm betty. and this is the catchup. tonight, a complete smoking ban in the uk, the olympic flame, and an all—female ultramarathon. first up, mps have been debating a new law which would effectively ban smoking in the uk. they voted in favour of the ban earlier, but they'll need to vote once

more to make it law. the plan is being proposed by the prime minister, rishi sunak, and would mean that each year the legal age for cigarette sales would increase. so if you're born in or after 2009, you'd never be able to legally buy cigarettes. smoking rates in older teens are really high in the uk, with more than 12% of 16 to 17 year olds smoking in england. here's what some people think about the plans. anything that could put them off doing it and getting into it then, yeah, it's a good idea. i still think it should be a personal choice. the more you try and ban stuff, the more i people are going to try and do it. i wales is going to host what organisers claim is the uk's first ever female only charity ultramarathon. she ultra is 31 miles on the cywn peninsula in gwyneth on saturday and organisers hope that it will inspire more women likejenny to take part. it's kind of less pressure, i think like gender stereotypes is that men can do things a bit faster or stronger than women, so kind

ofjust have a female only. i think it'll be really, really cool. time now for ten seconds of the olympic flame. every four years before the olympics, the torch is lit in greece. and i didn't know that till today. this time, greece have kept it low key with a dramatic ceremony in ancient 0lympia. the flame is now on its way to paris, so hopefully no wind on the way. that's all for me tonight. have a lovely evening. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm gavin ramjaun. a thriller in the champions league — as psg come back to knock out barcelona in the quarter finals. drama at dortmund too — another roller—coaster in that one, as the germans make the semi—finals at the expense of atletico madrid.

and a winning comeback for rafa nadal — on his homecoming at the barcelona 0pen. hello there, and welcome along to the programme. one thing the champions league serves up every year is guaranteed drama — and the first of this year's quarterfinals didn't disappoint. paris saint—germain went into their tie at barcelona, with a first leg deficit. but come away with a place in the semi—finals. barca extended their advantage early on, with raphinha's first half goal. the french side though, so often underachievers in this tournament, hit back after ba rca were reduced to ten men. 0usmane dembele, vitinha, and two goals from kylian mbappe sealed a 4—1 win for psg in spain and a stunning 6—4 victory on aggregate...

and psg will face dortmund in the semi—finals —