South Africa budget: state energy firm granted $5bn bailout

The economic picture is grim in South Africa, 11 weeks before its general election. Add to that the state-owned energy firm Eskom, which is at risk of collapse under a huge mountain of debt and you see the scale of the task facing finance minister Tito Mboweni in his latest budget. We get reaction from George Glynos in Johannesburg. Around 19 million Russians are now believed to be living below the poverty line. In his annual state of the nation address, President Putin has promised to do more to address that. Ann Simmons, Moscow bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, explains why Putin is demanding that Russia become more business-friendly. Glencore, the giant mining and commodity trading group, has promised to limit coal production following investor pressure. Will they eventually abandon coal altogether? A question for George Cheveley, an Investec fund manager specialising in natural resources. Plus, the BBC's Howard Mustoe has been finding out about the City of London's livery companies, which have been guarding their members' trades for centuries.

(Photo: South Africa Finance Minister Tito Mboweni presents the 2019 budget. Credit: Getty Images.)