and figures, an interesting report from the imf. i am the deputy director of the monetary and capital markets department. china saying that 2018 growth will be slowing down to 6.4%. as the fastest-growing economy in 2018. , speaking live with the largest listed companies, about where he sees oil prices heading and how it would affect the business in saudi arabia and beyond. this is bloomberg. ♪ rishaad: in hong kong, this is bloomberg markets. in the saudi arabian stock market, once more, it is planning to get even bigger with up to $10 billion worth of acquisitions in the next five years. this is were the fortune global forum is taking place. joined by that company's ceo. pleased to say that i am ,oined at the forum by the ceo and rish was just talking about the expansion plans, coming off the back of some pretty strong results in the quarter. what is your outlook for next year? >> we are very positive about 2018. the demands of gdp growth in china, europe, and the united states. it has been introduced weeks ago. and moderately,

quite often the imf says things many have been talking about for months. that is correct but the imf is not crying wolf because the risks china's economy faces from a build up china's economy faces from a build up of debt in the financial sector does risk triggering another crisis. the imf‘s report actually is another comprehensive assessment of how china's financial system has been since 2011 and examining whether china is doing enough to address all of the debt. china has relied on exports and investment to drive its economy but many believe the growth model has reached its limits and the build up of debt is posing a big risk. the imf is arguing china has to put financial stability above its pursuit of high—growth or gdp figures and it is recommending chinese banks increase their cash cushion to protect against an economic downturn. thank you. as far as markets in asia, not perturbed by the news from the imf whatsoever, very strong session today. japan as well, up over 1%. a really good session. this follows quite a bit decline for asian markets on w

well, the imf can see some positives. christine lagarde was careful to say that things could be better than expected if brexit negotiations proceed swiftly and both sides come to an early agreement, that will eliminate a lot of the uncertainty. a bit of a lift would be welcome because, as things stand, some businesses and shoppers are feeling the squeeze. simon gompertz, bbc news. and simon is here with us now. coming to some of the positive aspects in a moment but before that there was a sense that christina garde was saying, having taken some criticism that both slightly gloomy predictions she said had been justified. you remember those criticisms during the referendum campaign about not relying on experts and that touched a nerve clearly with her. and at the press conference after that statement today she talked about that and mentioned experts having been right in the end. and she wanted to make that point. to be fair some of the forecasts have not been correct, forecasts have not been correct, forecasts cells are. bu

but, if i was to identify one big takeout from the imf today, it is this. in a world of growing global growth, the uk economy has suffered since the referendum. the imf said growth in the first nine months of the year was lower than in 2016. it said that prices had risen because of the fall in the value of the pound, causing a squeeze on living standards. and called for a quick agreement on the transition phase of the brexit talks, to ease uncertainty and avoid crashing out of the eu. around the corner, in parliament, it was the turn of the governor of the bank of england, also pushing for a free—trade deal, this time in financial services, despite grumbles from the eu that such a thing had never been achieved before. i don't accept the argument that, just because it has not been done in the past, it can't be done in the future. we'd just walk away from progress if that were the approach we took to issues. the hunt for an agreement goes on, and firms like this gin manufacturer in london are keeping plans on ice until there is greater clarity. it clearly h

haslinda: the imf recently upgraded its forecast for china. why isn't the imf more critical of china when it is taking the path that could lead to a financial crisis? ms. lagarde: we have raised with china the issue of the very fast development of credit, and our partners in china, the pboc leadership in particular, the treasury department in china are listening, and they are clearly making decisions and taking actions in order to rein in credit and avoid that growth be fueled predominantly by expensive credit to the economy. hopefully they are going to continue doing that in order to avoid financial crisis. rishaad: that wraps up our special edition of "bloomberg best." we hope you have enjoyed these conversations from bloomberg tv's coverage of business and finance in asia during 2017. we look forward to bringing you more analysis, news, and interviews in the year ahead. thanks for watching. i'm rishaad salamat. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ >> coming up on "bloomberg best" -- the most compelling conversations on finance and europe. the back-an

but if i was to identify one big takeout from the imf today, it is this. in a world of growing global growth, the uk economy has suffered since the referendum. the imf said growth in the first nine months of the year was lower than in 2016. it said that prices had risen because of a fall in the value of the pound causing a squeeze on living standards. and called for a quick agreement on the transition phase of the brexit talks to use uncertainty and avoid crashing out of the eu. around the corner in parliament, it was the turn of the governor of the bank of england, also pushing for a free—trade deal, this time in financial services, despite grumbles from the eu that such a thing had never been achieved before.|j from the eu that such a thing had never been achieved before. i don't accept the argument that just because it has not been done in the past it cannot be done in the future and store we would just walk away from progress is that was the approach we took two issues. the hunt for approach we took two issues. the huntforan approach we took two issu

but if i was to identify one big takeout from the imf today, it's this. in a world of growing global growth, the uk economy has suffered since the referendum. the imf said growth in the first nine months of the year was lower than in 2016. it said that prices had risen because of the fall in the value of the pound, causing a squeeze on living standards. and called for a quick agreement on the transition phase of the brexit talks to ease uncertainty and avoid crashing out of the eu. around the corner in parliament, it was the turn of the governor of the bank of england, also pushing for a free—trade deal, this time in financial services, despite grumbles from the eu that such a thing had never been achieved before. i don't accept the argument that just because it has not been done in the past it cannot be done in the future. we would just walk away from progress if that were the approach we took to issues. the hunt for an agreement goes on, and firms like this gin manufacturer in london are keeping plans on ice until there is greater clarity. it clearly

but it's a very positive development. >> the imf recently upgraded its forecast for china. why isn't the imf more critical of china when it is taking the path that could lead to a financial crisis? china the raised with issue of the very fast ourlopment of credit, and partners in china, the pboc leadership in particular, the treasury department in china, are listening, and they are clearly making decisions and taking actions in order to rein in credit and avoid that growth fueled predominantly by expensive credit to the economy. hopefully they are going to continue doing that in order to avoid financial crisis. that wraps up our special edition of "bloomberg best." if you have enjoyed these conversations from bloomberg tv's coverage of business and finance in asia during 2017. we look forward to bringing you more analysis, news, and interviews in the days ahead. .thanks for watching . m rishaad salamat. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> coming up on "bloomberg best ," the most compelling conversations on finance and europe. brexit caused constant debate. agreementfree trade with th

christine lagarde of the imf. let's target. christine lagarde of the imf. let‘s take stock of where we are with brexit as we head towards the end of this momentous political year. i have lucy fischer senior political correspondent at the times newspaper, k proctor from political correspondent at the times newspaper, k proctorfrom the london evening standard and an unknown and from the think tank changing europe. let‘s have the final stages of the brexit legislation. is she in a better place than she would have expected after that election surprise? the government have come toa surprise? the government have come to a compromise over the weekend. the final sticking point for the pro—remain tory rebels, so she's not going to suffer a defeat. the defeat she suffered earlier this month over the meaningful amendment put her in a better state to go to brussels. it showed the eu 27 leaders that she is facing a lot of battles on her home front. i think that might help in the negotiations over all. she's not going into christmas in such a fraught way. how do yo

while breathing china's president, —— praising the president, the imf said reforms by shay —— beijing in recent years had not gone far enough. the people's bank of china issued a report saying that while the report is objective and pertinent, stress test show the financial system has a relatively strong ability to fend off any risk and some economists believe that and they have mentioned it but we should stop worry about the debt, they point to three factors, massive credit card surplus, and that predator to the rest of the world put decades, and beijing's outstanding public—sector debt valued at $4 trillion is morphed by the vast assets controlled by the various levels of government. we will have to wait and see going forward how this will have an impact. we will watch with great interest, thank you. let's tell you about some of the other stories. bitcoin has soared to a new record high above $14,000 on the luxembourg—based bitstamp exchange. the virtual currency has surged from below $1,000 at the beginning of the year despite questions about its real value and worries about a d

i should also point out this is not the first time the imf has made such a warning. they warned of a dangerous bubble in 2009, during the financial crisis. prices have been going up ever since. many mainland buyers purchasing property in hong kong. what about the commercial property market? also redhot. in fa ct, property market? also redhot. in fact, a new report out saying hong kong is overtaking london for the first time since 2013 as the most expensive office real estate. a workstation, one employee for the course of the year, will cost $27,000. that is about $5,000 more than london, with the currency and brexit and all of that. and japan, the next asian city, come down at around $9,000 below hong kong. familiar names at the end, new york, paris and sydney here in the asia—pacific. when you look at that in terms of employee numbers, 100 employees in hong kong equates to about 300 in toronto, 500 in madrid, and 900 in mumbai. here in singapore, we may do a little mental calculation, the numbers add up. maybe even not enough space to sit. thank you so much. well,

now sticking with the theme, imf report out this morning, reducing growth predictions for the uk for 2017, slightly from 1. 7% to 1. 6%. anything else in that survey that will get the treasury worried?” don't think so. 1. 7% to 1. 6% is, you know, it's not a paradime shift in terms of expectations for the uk. you know, the imf itself has been pretty gloomy about brexit, if you look back to its predictions about what would happen in light of brexit it was expecting 1. 1% growth for the uk this year. actually, things have turned out a lot better than expected. so, i don't see that actually sets any hares racing. this comparison from the treasury this morning is pulling together 22 different independent surveys about the uk's economy, all these predictions. a lot of the time they arejust predictions. a lot of the time they are just that, predictions. a lot of the time they arejust that, predictions predictions. a lot of the time they are just that, predictions and often they're wrong. is there any value to these surveys? i think there is some value to them. there is an old industry jo

the imf also thinks we have more time to rebalance the economy, so they are making it quite clear that 2018 will be a relatively stronger year. a year of later government stimulus in the economy. what is worth looking at is some of the other non-fiscal measures as well. you have women beginning to drive next year which potentially brings in new workers into the workforce. which ishave the vat negative maybe for consumers, of for the loosening restrictions on the private sector activity, it could add further support to the economy. yousef: is it still too early to really be able to assess consumer reaction and sentiment more specifically? the economy minister pointed it out in my conversation with him, that they are trying to find the balance with the growth program and also not talking up growth. is there a risk that we could another recalibration early in 2018, depending on how these reforms take hold? thet: i think of course, authorities will be looking at how the consumer, how the private sector more broadly, reacts to the measures they have taken. in the next few months you have va

but if i was to identify one big takeout from the imf today, it is this. in a world of growing global growth, the uk economy has suffered since the referendum. the imf said growth in the first nine months of the year was lower than in 2016. it said that prices had risen because of a fall in the value of the pound causing a squeeze on living standards. and called for a quick agreement on the transition phase of the brexit talks to use uncertainty and avoid crashing out of the eu. around the corner in parliament, it was the turn of the governor of the bank of england, also pushing for a free—trade deal, this time in financial services, despite grumbles from the eu that such a thing had never been achieved before. i don't accept the argument that just because it has not been done in the past it cannot be done in the future and we would just walk away from progress is that was the approach we took to issues. the hunt for an agreement goes on, and firms like this gin manufacturer in london are keeping plans on ice until there is greater clarity. it clearly he

let's look to the year ahead. -- imf or dix the eurozone the imf predicts the eurozone will share and abroad global expansion. monetary policy should continue toward normalization, and european banks are bracing for new regulations known as mifid ii. francine locke was set the scene for 2018 in an exclusive interview. >> it seems we have a more organized and constructive process. that inevitably is a positive piece of news. the next step is to continue on this pace, given the banks need to make a decision by early next year on what they will do next, and having good guidance where we will land by the beginning of next year. that is quite important. >> how do we know the government will take financial services as a priority? there always seems to be a problem with timeline, that you need to make a decision earlier than you have answers to your questions. >> i think the government does take financial services seriously. i think the timeline is often misunderstood because everybody looks at the deadline. for us to get there, the transition is long. all financial institutions will move at

the imf has downgraded its forecast for uk economic growth. the fund expects growth of 1.6% this year, down slightly from its previous forecast of 1.7%. it expects growth to slow further next yearto1.5%. imf chief christine lagarde said the economy was being held back by rising inflation and stagnant wages which are squeezing spending power. she also said uncertainty over the brexit deal was causing uk firms to delay investment plans. however, she said that the government had made significant progress in reducing the deficit. the significant depreciation of sterling that followed the referendum has pushed inflation over 396, referendum has pushed inflation over 3%, squeezing real incomes and private consumption. companies are also delaying some investment decisions until they have greater clarity about post—brexit trade rules in particular. ourforecast for growth in 2017 this year is 1. 1.6%, down from 1. 8% in 2016 and 2. 396 in 1.6%, down from 1. 8% in 2016 and 2. 3% in 2015. all of that, despite what i have just mentioned, which 3% in 201

of course noted and as you might expect the imf, i think, doing what the imf is meant to do, running up a bit of a red flag to remind people debt is a key story here it's technology as well that made a lot to of the running at this conference. >> we've seen big announcements coming out of here today ford announcing they would work closely with alibaba in four sectors which includes the cloud and the online retail sector some rumblings that perhaps ford could begin selling cars on alibaba's site as well there's no question that china and the leadership looked to use tech as a driver in the new phase in the economy you know there are questions here about how big these companies have become. we mentioned alibaba, tencent reaching the half trillion dollar mark a few weeks ago. we had a chance to speak with somebody who was an early believer in the china tech story, jerry yang, co-founder of yahoo! keep in mind it was back in 2005 he invested a billion into alibaba, a 40% stake that paid off in a big way we asked whether he thought the valuations were stepped too much today. take a listen

the so-called austerity programs, even the economists of the international -- the imf, international monetary fund, their own economists say -- report that these policies make no economic sense. but the imf bureaucrats, the ones who are part of the decision-making apparatus, they vote for them. how do you -- and the effect on europe is the same thing, as far as democracy is concerned. just like in the united states, there's anger, contempt for major -- for centrist -- you know, for the major governing institutions. here, it is congress. there, it is political parties. you just saw it in france yesterday. the two major parties were barely visible in the election. and it's happening all over europe, same kind of thing that's happening here. i mean, here, it's happening in a way which is almost farcical because of the -- you know, the kind of actions carried out by the leadership. in europe, it is being pursued in a way which is really ominous. i mean, you don't have to look far back to find a time when fascist parties actually had power in europe. and we know what happened. and now the

this is according to the imf. we talk about the contagion effect. let's talk about tech. , thisn the united states tech bashing, what is the ramification, the contagion -- there two things at play. the market is desperate for correction. it has been a low -- the largest correction we have seen in stocks are those that have gained the most over the year. cases lead many markets higher over the year. we have been looking at a lot of tech stocks, and despite morgan stanley's downgrade, it still looks robust. potentially the risk, and the ,hinese are concerned about chinese economy is dependent on tech. liquiditye ramifications as a whole. as the chinese government tries to reduce liquidity, attack correction means they are more cautious. coming up. in the ongoing brexit saga. u.k. prime minister refuses to give up as she prepares another proposal for ireland. we will discuss whether she can .ring the dup this is bloomberg. ♪ manus: good morning from bloomberg's new european headquarters in the city of london. i am manus cranny. this is bloomberg dayb

imf is being too punitive with their requirements or demands on greece. the good news is that they ended up coming to a imf is being too much better mutual conclusion post the writing of our peace. >> why now? someeason i ask is because people would look at the great straight and say it is already played out nicely for people in greek government bonds, they have been rallying, up 16% already this year. >> a different -- difference between the bonds and equity, the bonds -- banks only have about $10 billion of market capital. bank market capital to gdp, the lowest in the world. when you think about an economy that is just now starting to show green everywhere, whether it is tourism, new vehicle registration, gdp, primary deficit, no matter how you look at the macro indicators for the country, for the first time in eight years, they are starting to flash green. i think you have an interesting political situation in greece where there will be a currentfrom the government to a more slightly center-right but very economically independent new leadership in the

you had capital controls out of repatriation, security was a bit today they are $36 billion, the imf program, half of it has either been dispersed or approved. things are looking good. even if we talk about ourselves ve participated in both egyptian securities on the equity side, we overweight that in our funds, and on the fixed income side we have participated from august onward in the local markets. twoy week there are treasury auctions, tuesday and thursday. so interestingly, today is the nine-month auction. that would be a key one to look at in terms of foreign participation. yield ont week, the those were still 18% in local terms. that will be an interesting one to watch. >> we will both be watching that for sure. we know that president lcc has already reshuffled his security following last month's ambush. what are the chances that these security issues become a distraction for him, and it means he takes his eye off the ball from the economic reforms? >> that danger is always there. that is one of the things for investors are looking at. if you look back to the other story, paki

the imf sounded the warning is several times over the past couple of years looking at the debt rising from two up to 300% by 2022. china has been actively addressing that debt, whether it is controls are round lending, looking at the bigger pic is in investments going overseas, in addition, continuing the growth path so that it continues to outpace the level of debt. from its overall path and gdp, it is only around a thousand per person yet, in comparison to around the world it is low. china has a long way to go. they have a massive debt but even though it is their it also needs to look at the assets. china has a great potential out there. as a management consulting firm we look at some of the risks. where you see increased in interest rates, whether you see impact on trade and potential disruption. as china looks at investment, you are looking at pushback from countries and regions like the eu. whether it is robotics. in the us you are seeing it in high—tech sectors. that could constrain the growth and could pose additional challenges of china in the future. as brexit talks continu

the imf says stress tests show china's top four banks have enough capital. the smaller banks appear vulnerable. next up, breaking news, republican operative tells fox arizona representative trent franks, trent franks is expected to resign. these are just reports as a fast-moving fluid situation, this could possibly be, again, an allegation, there are charges, it's reports coming in, inappropriate behavior. that's not confirmed. staying on top of this quick moving developing story for you. hollywood celebrities now evacuating homes in the los angeles area amid the wildfire threat. known liberal anti-trump comic chelsea handler blaming it on the president. joe bastardi here to give handler a lesson after this. is y type 2 diabetes pill proven to both significantly reduce the chance of dying from a cardiovascular event in adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease... ...and lower your a1c. wow. jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration. this may cause you to feel dizzy, faint, or lightheaded, or weak upon standing. ketoacidosis is a

a warning that uncertainty over brexit is affecting the uk economy, as the imf downgraded its growth prediction for this year. the first big legislative achievement of the trump presidency, as congress approves his sweeping tax reforms. it is the largest... i always say the most massive, but it is the largest tax cut in the history of oui’ largest tax cut in the history of our country, and reform, but tax cut.

an agreement was reached with the eu and imf over the weekend for the almost $6 billion loan. greece has been struggling for years to restructure around $350 billion of public debt. a quick look at asian financial markets. the us tax reform bill is still on the minds of investors. a mixed day on friday to close in the united states. i will see you for the news briefing. nearly three quarters of a million children and pensioners in the uk have fallen into relative poverty over the past four years, according to a report by thejoseph rowntree foundation. the charity says efforts to reduce hardship are in danger of unravelling, mainly due to changes to benefits. 0ur social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, has more. for this woman, this drop has many benefits. she can use computers to keep up with family and friends. but by being here, the 84 year does not have to spend money hitting her own home. if you go out, you don't have to have hitting on. —— heating. 0nce it is dark, and the evening is now called, you need to put the heating heating on. the joseph rowntree found

and in october the imf upped its forecast for the global economy and now predicts growth of 3.6% this year and 3.7% in 2018. meanwhile, the us stock market has also been surging ahead — it's regularly broken records throughout the year. but just who should take the credit for it? turns out there's a difference of opinion — as samira hussain reports now from new york. in yet another campaign style event, us president donald trump took to the stage to talk about his accomplishments. among them, us markets. the stock market is hitting an all—time high record for another, and think of this, 86 times since election day. 86 times. it hit a record. 86 times. cheering and applsause. and we will keep it going. in a tweet after tweet after tweet, he has been pressing the high market and taking credit. but how much can this be executed to the president? 0ne economist said it has more to do with the federal reserve and its programme of quantitative easing when the us central bank was buying up bonds to support the us economy after the financial crisis. there is a massive amount of cash floa

this is the first time the imf resides the forecast up. u.s. growth is surprising on the up side. we are in the good part of a cycle. the good times are now. maria: the gdp report, 3.3% growth. you make an interesting correlation to energy. so the 3.3% growth we saw this week. do you think that's the stable going forward, and tell us why energy such an important component. >> 70% of the rebound of growth is due to the energy normalizing. almost the entire pickup of inflation is due to energy prices. 70% of the trade in particular from emerging markets is due to an energy rebound. energy investment is what china is to global growth. the rebounds of energy investment is the key reason for the economy. the world economy is in a good place. we'll have two or three years of relatively solid growth, possibly falling to 3.9 by the end of next year, and inflation continuing to be 1.75, 2% by the ends of last quarter 2019. so a pretty benign outlook but a good time, and in europe as well. there is synchronized growth in the world economy. and the other thing we asked for is don't leave eve

now we are hearing from the managing director of the imf, christine lagarde. she dissents on london to deliver article four, the imf's assessment on the u.k. economy. oncourse, brexit is weighing u.k. domestic demand and they are seeing firms weigh on domestic. still with us, vasileios gkionakis, and also, david riley. what she will not do is give us a call on pound. the imf is looking at the impact that the pound has on exports and again, investors coming in from abroad. >> it has definitely acted as a shock absorber. there's a significant sentiment for both the consumer and the bond. as far as stillman is concerned, i think we have seen the worst of sterling, especially against the dollar. weak dollar, the factor, which i think will continue. isondly, i think the market looking for compromised on the road. it's going to take more than two years negotiations between canada, negotiations for the free trade agreement between china and australia have taken 10 years. this is not going to be resolved in a couple of years. i think what the market wants to feel righ

on wednesday imf chief christine lagarde presented the agency's first assessment of the uk economy since the vote to leave the european union. he says britain is already suffering the effects of uncertainty over future trade arrangements with europe. the uk economy set to grow just one point five percent in twenty eighteen well behind most other advanced economies. but ours is britain may need to raise taxes to bring down public debt rather than squeeze public spending at the tory government has been doing. and she urge britain and the easy to reach an agreement on a break the transition as soon as possible hears abou. the sooner there is. . a clear position as to what the outcome will be. the better that's point on one so legalization that drugs on own with massive uncertainty continuing is simply going to delay. the the plans the strategies and the investment decision making process of the whole corporate sector. one of the most important economic engines for the u. k. is the city of london and its global banking industry. bank of england said wednesday that it hopes european financial

officials themselves can get into compliance such that there can be a restructuring of the debt by imf or other external resources? >> so, you know, on the imf question, this is a country, this is a regime that has failed to publy size any of the standard data by properly functioning economies. on top of that you're dealing with a regime when maduro and his cronies, his vice president is a drug king pin and he put him in charge of the debt discussions. it's a designated individual. on top of that, this is a country where it's constitution specifies that the national assembly is the only organization that can authorize the issuance of new debt but what maturo is wiped out democracy. he overturned the national assembly these people have run for their lives. he's now established this constituent assembly which is packed full of his people. >> this is understandable to say, the regime needs to change, period, in order for us to accomplish that. >> i think we're saying we need a return to the democratic order. >> got it. understood. and then is there any feeling what the time frame or timel

the imf said that despite a strong recovery in global growth the impact of britain's decision to exit the european union has weighed on the economy. it also said that the weak pound was pushing up said that the weak pound was pushing up inflation and squeezing household real income and spending. the met police is launching a review of all its current sex offence investigations after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. the prosecutions were halted because of the late disclosure of digital evidence. scotland yard has confirmed the same detective was involved in both investigations. the european court ofjustice has decided that the taxi hailing app, uber, should legally be considered a transport company rather than a digital services provider. the ruling will mean that the firm should be subjected to local licensing laws in the countries in which it operates. the government says it'll pass legislation to ensure all british homes and businesses can demand access to high—speed broadband. ministers are to force bt, which owns much of the uk's telecoms infrastructure, to provide

the imf warned that transitional suppose major risks the world's second largest economy. general electric will cut twelve thousand jobs across its power business that's about eighteen percent of the units global workforce. jeez new ceo john flannery is struggling to cut costs and turn around the beleaguered manufacturing conglomerate china sharia explains. after decades of spreading risk across a range of industries g. e. wants to shrink itself into a more focused company. the u. s. energy giant is cutting twelve thousand jobs worldwide in its power division eleven hundred workers in the u. k. one thousand six hundred in germany and other one thousand four hundred in switzerland. that's eighteen percent of the units two hundred ninety five thousand strong workforce. the goal is to save one billion dollars in structural costs in the power division in twenty eighteen and three point five billion overall. this decision was painful but necessary fuji e. power to respond the disruption in the power markets which is driving significantly lower volumes in products and services.

doer that, they said they not agree with what the imf did and said that the financial system in the country showed the risk and chinast underestimates bad loss. let's bring in our asia editor and our markets editor. let's get started. flesh out what was said here. >> they said the chinese banks need more capital and they said and this is 2.5% of gdp that this is the worst-case scenario and they found that it fell short of what was recommended and the banks are smallerok and it is the lenders. >> what are the conditions of this test? >> there was a moment they were thinking about and this alignment with what they were said asnd what had been they need to crack down on some of these matters and they said that the assessment was generally fair. >> which part did you disagree with? the risk arrives and they can do with it. -- who willlder the shoulder that end at risk. there is also a statement about the banking regulator that is coming out with liquidity stress test for smaller banks. >> they are managing liquidity and most of the liquidity threshold are for angst with more than $30 billion an

applied and goes in line with what we have seen in terms of improvements with the agreement with the imf. improvements have been made over subsidies, cuts and spending and we are starting to see inflation in egypt start to level off. i think the sectors to watch out for are the tourism sectors which could say there might be an impact over the last week, but traditionally events south of seen i do not have much percussions -- repercussions. >> what is the biggest risk? is it the availability of u.s. dollars? >> in terms of liquidity, -- the biggest risk is deviation from reforms. they have been moving forward on that. the last step is further removal of energy prices. blipmight be one potential but beyond that, the addition -- egyptian authorities committed to reform in the long run. spoke at of this week's crucial oil meeting and asked for his response over the production companies are it >> i think it circles around the ideal oil price. russians have been pushing back, saying if we cut too much -- reach anly they will agreement potentially for cuts into the year, but with a caveat that

and in october, the imf upped its forecast for the global economy and now predicts growth of 3.6% this year and 3.7% in 2018. we're joined by karen ward, chief strategist, jp morgan asset management. hello karen. good morning. i am assuming that we are going to see a rate rise today. is this the right medicine? that's right today. it is largely expected to see another quarter point increase. the question really is what they tell us about next year and how many more they think are in the pipeline. so what do you think they will say and let's remember thatjerome powell takes overin remember thatjerome powell takes over in february from janet yelland so over in february from janet yelland $03 over in february from janet yelland so a new year with a new boss? that's right. we have heard a lot from him in recent months and it doesn't sound like that's going to deliver many changes at the fed in the terms of their thinking or the policy. the question is about tax reform and what that is going to deliver and if it passes and how much it will boost the economy and how monetary policy fits into

an agreement was reached with the eu and imf over the weekend for the almost $6bn loan. greece has been struggling for years to restructure around $350bn of public debt. you may have noticed ben's voice is different. you need a hot toddy! it isa different. you need a hot toddy! it is a good opportunity for you to speak more. let douse that now. let us speak more. let douse that now. let us look what the is going on in business. we have the business live page as ever looking at all the stories breaking, we have facebook, you may remember some months ago facebook announcing it would have a brand—new building full of new employees in london, well today is the day, they will open up this building, so it is announced today the new london office creating 800 newjobs in the uk. by the end of next year 300,000 people will be working for facebook in the uk, so thatis working for facebook in the uk, so that is among the stories on the bliefz page. we will stay with that theme. we will stay with that theme. australia has become the latest country to ask if google and facebook are

we were reflecting on christine lagarde from the imf saying, it is not the time for bitcoin, far too early, and looking at the dark side of the criminal underworld that uses it as well, and yet as we sit here, that has been relegated to the last question i am going to ask you rather than the first. i think that is important, because that used to be the perception, whereas when you look at the data, that is a very small useful bitcoin. because it was assumed to behave like cash, people treated it like that, and u nfortu nately treated it like that, and unfortunately cash is used for illicit goods quite often, but what they don't look at is, why would i spend bitcoin when it is going up in value so much? it is a very bad form of cash right now because it is gaining value so quickly. so you wouldn't do it for that reason. you took out bitcoin a long while ago, is so you have seen the one—way traffic, hence you have 38 very good friends you forgot you had. yes, it is something where it was just this strange story after the side, and 110w strange story after the side, and now everybody

goes in line with what we have seen in terms of improvements with the $12 billion agreement with the imf in the last year. improvements have been made over subsidies, cuts and spending and we are starting to see inflation in egypt start to level off. i think the sectors to watch out for are the tourism sectors where we have had an impact. you could potentially say there short-term impact from what we have seen over the last week, but traditionally events i have seen do not have much repercussions. >> what is the biggest risk? is it the availability of u.s. dollars? >> in terms of liquidity, -- the central bank is doing well. the biggest risk is deviation from commitment to reforms. they have been moving forward on that. the last step is further removal of energy prices. is that likely to pass through before the next presidential elections? potentially not. we have seen egyptian authorities committed to reform the economy in the long run. spoke to -- ahead of this week's crucial oil meeting and asked for his response over the production companies. >> i think it circles around the ideal oi

big elections in south africa and chile point to fundamental change in those countries and the imf is warning about overcrowding in emerging-market bond funds. we welcome our all-star panel of megan murphy and michael mckee. we talked about taxes -- lisa: i am excited. david: first of all, is there any chance democrats could sidetrack them because they are trying really hard. >> there is no way democrats are been a be able to sidetrack the bill at this point. they have the votes and they will pass eight. we have to do the next step and go through this bill and explain to people what it doing. and look at what republicans are promising and the realities. this bill has gone through a break to get to where we are at and it will pass and it is a copperheads of reform -- comprehensive reform of the tax system. is it actually democrats that are portraying it as a massive wealth transfer to the wealthiest parts of society to -- but to corporations and thirdly, will it have the economic stimulus that republicans are promising which and 2020cial into 2018 with the upsets we have seen and the p

as you can see on the breakdown of imf for hang seng, these stocks are on the decline, primarily because of tencent. discretionary shares leading up to percent. the hang seng rebalancing takes effect at the end of market closed today. changed to 11% from 10.7%. week, lost over 5% this extending losses. its worst week in almost two years. david: waiting for these index funds to track the index. another thing, casino stocks are on the way up. can you tell us why? sophie: we have the stock re-rating, galaxy entertainment upgraded to buy. macau gettingwynn a win on both brokers. to gaming revenue for november, that is expected to moderate. it is still on course for the 16th straight year on year gain. people are still looking to roll the dice. david: sophie, thank you for your markets update. the other thing i was talking about, data from japan and korea. here is paul allen with your first word news. >> contrasting messages from korea and japan did a. seoul showing inflation slowing unexpectedly to a one year low. growth came in ahead of forecasts. japan saw inflation accelerating slightly,

if you bring all these reforms at once you could put the economy in a shock, and that is what the imf and experts pointed out, the using of the implementation of these programs. so this is coming, we have seen that happen in other parts of the gcc. it happened in the uae. it has its discomfort at the beginning. >> in terms of the market -- we put up a fabulous function, the market relative valuation -- this puts it all into perspective in terms of dividend yield, and then it gives it a valuation score. whichgo over, it is -.51, means it is relative to its peers as expensive. how more specifically in terms of sectors would you invest? >> i would agree and disagree at the same time. we look at saudi as a longer-term story, extremely attractive. the reforms that the government has embarked on are interesting and our value created, generating a lot of business for the private sector. that is something we have also seen in other parts of the gcc. the difference in saudi arabia which i think needs to be quantified better is the social reform as well that comes on top of the economic reform.

- if you bring all of these reforms at once, you could put the economy in a shock which is what the imf and some of the other experts had pointed out. the easing of the implementation of these reform programs was pointed out. we have seen it happen in other parts of the gcc, in the uae, and it hasn't this discomfort among retailers in the beginning but it gets better. yousef: in terms of the market, we put up a graph, this puts it all into perspective in terms of dividend yields and gives it a valuation score. if we go to the saudi tadawul it thisgative .51 which means is actually expensive in the region. would you agree with this assessment and how specifically of these sectors -- which sectors would you invest in specifically in the kingdom? guest: i agree and disagree at the same time. we look at saudi as a long-term story, extremely attractive. the reforms the government has embarked on our interesting and the valley will generate lots of business for the private sector and have a trickle-down effect, which is something to we have when and other parts of the gcc. it needs to be quan

imf already includes the chinese r&b, but they are going to review that in a couple of years. that leads to external pressure for china to that. also, if you look at the financial reforms in china, they are doing the interest stabilization, the capital liver is -- capital liberalization. 2018, it might be financial regulations could bear for themit, it is time to make a move to liberalize the exchange rates. yvonne: at what point do you see the turning point? we've seen china saying they're going to open up, liberalize the yen, but they always have backed away anytime they see volatility or it starts to weekend. ken.ea what is the magic number before we see reforms? >> i what is most important for china is to make sure their domestic financial sector can withstand the shocks from reform change. so the things they are trying to clamp down on shared banking activities, to make banking sectors to resist this kind of external shock. definitely, i think if we see some easing, the significant implementing in china, we see the banking sector become stronger than before. then i think

those officials themselves can get into compliant such that there can be a restructuring of the debt by imf or other external resources? >> on the imf question, this is a country, this is a regime that has failed to publicize any of the standard data that are expected by properly functioning economies. on top of that you were dealing with a regime were madura and his cronies, his vice president is a drug kingpin and he put him in charge of the debt discussions. the designated individual, on top of that, this is a country where its constitution specifies the national assembly is the only organization that can authorize the issuance of new debt. what madura did was wiped out democracy. he overturned national civic these people and for their lives. he has now established this constituent assembly which is packed full of his people. >> the regime needs to change in order for us to be able to accomplish that. >> i don't think we are saying that. we need to return to the democratic order. >> understood. and then is there any feeling what the timeframe or timeline might occur? do you see any weake

. >> imf or believer in trade. -- i am a fair believer in trade. trade is good for both parties. >> we are beginning to see a return to stable markets. scarlet: it is all straight ahead on bloomberg best. ♪ scarlet: hello and welcome. i am scarlet fu. this is "bloomberg best," your weekly review of the most important business news analysis and interviews from bloomberg television around the world. the week began with a big step for bitcoin as traders were able to buy and sell futures for the first time on sunday night. >> bitcoin has landed on wall street, literally with a bang. futures on the world's most popular cryptocurrency surged as much as 25% during its debut session on the cboe. >> we are seeing pretty consistently three or four trades per minute coming in. it is actually higher than the people expected. it is being driven higher by retail investors. this is not bad for an opening date for a futures contract. thee saw some surges in first few hours of trading. and the see bow has circuit breakers -- and the cboe has certain circuit break