:00:00. > :00:00.believe that Gary Barlow should return his OBE, despite the ruling
:00:00. > :00:17.that he avoided taxes. Now on BBC News all the latest business news
:00:18. > :00:22.live from Singapore. Led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a
:00:23. > :00:27.straighter's government gets set to hand down what could be one of the
:00:28. > :00:36.nation's toughest Budget in years. Investors react as India wraps up
:00:37. > :00:39.white Tomic five weeks of voting. Thank you for joining us on Asia
:00:40. > :00:46.Business Report, on BBC World News. I Rico Hizon. How big Budget problem
:00:47. > :00:50.does Australia have? Well, we will find out today the government
:00:51. > :00:54.details its first Budget since coming to power late last year. With
:00:55. > :00:57.warnings of the crisis, with the country's finances, Australians are
:00:58. > :01:03.being told they will all have to do the heavy lifting to balance the
:01:04. > :01:08.books. So while the local economy is picking up speed, locals are bracing
:01:09. > :01:12.themselves for higher taxes for the rich, as well as cuts to welfare and
:01:13. > :01:19.government jobs. From Sydney, our correspondent has this preview.
:01:20. > :01:23.Australia managed to chart a safe path through the choppy waters of
:01:24. > :01:26.the global recession, thanks to a mining boom. But the government
:01:27. > :01:30.believes that this lifestyle superpower must endure Budget pain
:01:31. > :01:34.to guarantee future prosperity. The Budget is something that does need
:01:35. > :01:40.to come down, does need to have some tough measures in it. What I don't
:01:41. > :01:46.think we are as poorly off as people might think we are. I think it will
:01:47. > :01:50.be tough and hit a lot of people who don't want to be hit hard. I think
:01:51. > :01:54.it will be brutal and will hit middle range. Tax hikes for the
:01:55. > :01:59.rich, cuts to welfare, and the raising of the retirement age to 70
:02:00. > :02:03.are expected to be included in its latest economic loop rent.
:02:04. > :02:06.Economists believe that with a deficit of about 3% of GDP,
:02:07. > :02:11.Australia's financial woes are modest. Compared with the US and
:02:12. > :02:17.Europe. It is right to say Australia has a Budget problem. We have had
:02:18. > :02:20.the biggest boom in our history. We should be running Budget surpluses
:02:21. > :02:27.now, not deficits. There is a problem there, but we don't have the
:02:28. > :02:32.sort of emergency that we have had over the last years. Australia does
:02:33. > :02:34.the significant challenges. Although unemployment here is low by
:02:35. > :02:40.international standards, at less than 6%, it is expected to rise. And
:02:41. > :02:43.a decade`long mining boom is fading. At economic growth is steady, and
:02:44. > :02:47.the weakening currency is helping exporters. So in many ways,
:02:48. > :02:52.Australia remains the lucky country. But academics warned that
:02:53. > :02:58.an overly tough Budget could harm the economy. In the medium to
:02:59. > :03:03.long`term they could be some issues. The resources boom is over,
:03:04. > :03:07.There are a fundamentally good There are a fundamentally good
:03:08. > :03:11.aspect in the economy, and it is a question of sensible stewardship
:03:12. > :03:18.rather than the sort of panic attack we are seeing at the moment. The
:03:19. > :03:21.sand and the surf are part of Australia's famous, no worries,
:03:22. > :03:24.lifestyle. But the government believes this fun loving nation is
:03:25. > :03:28.living beyond its means and warns that all Australians will have to
:03:29. > :03:35.share the pain to health balance the books. And the Budget will be
:03:36. > :03:39.released this evening in Canberra. We will bring you updates and
:03:40. > :03:46.reactions on tomorrow's Wollaton right here on Asia Business Report.
:03:47. > :03:51.One of the key drivers of Australia's economy is China's
:03:52. > :03:56.demand for its resources, with exports highly sensitive to
:03:57. > :04:00.Beijing's slower growth. While the mainland's economic engine has lost
:04:01. > :04:05.momentum, that is not necessarily bad news. I spoke to Mark Williams
:04:06. > :04:08.from Capital Economics, who explained why China slowdown is not
:04:09. > :04:12.stopping to worry about. It is slowing, but the sense of panic
:04:13. > :04:19.which takes hold in some parts of the market, is massively overdone.
:04:20. > :04:25.After all, we have to remember that China's growth rate has halved since
:04:26. > :04:32.2007. It has come down from 14 to 7% in the past seven years. The fact it
:04:33. > :04:36.is slowing at bit more should not because massive concern. Actually,
:04:37. > :04:40.seeing is positive. We are seeing seeing is positive. We are seeing
:04:41. > :04:45.slightly weaker investment spending. So some of those imbalances in
:04:46. > :04:48.China's economy are eroding. We shouldn't be too worried about it.
:04:49. > :04:51.We shouldn't be too worried about it, but where are we seeing the
:04:52. > :04:58.risks in this slowdown in the China economy? Is because of debts,
:04:59. > :05:01.laboured disputes... The focus of concern shift every few months, but
:05:02. > :05:05.the area we should really focus is property. That is the area of the
:05:06. > :05:10.economy which has massive oversupply of houses at the moment. It is also
:05:11. > :05:14.big enough that something goes wrong we will have widespread recognition
:05:15. > :05:21.is, not just in China but around the world. With the slowdown in the
:05:22. > :05:24.Chinese economy, where is this most being felt in Asia? It is the
:05:25. > :05:29.commodity producers who are most exposed to the sort of slowdown we
:05:30. > :05:32.are seeing at the moment. And the sort of slowdown which is the big
:05:33. > :05:39.risk. If the property sector goes down, that is going to hurt copper,
:05:40. > :05:43.steel, iron ore producers. At the same time, if the government manages
:05:44. > :05:47.to start keen to some consumer demand through spending, then
:05:48. > :05:52.produces of consumer goods Tomic of which there are many in this part of
:05:53. > :06:00.the world, should stand to do very well. Mark Williams from Capital
:06:01. > :06:03.Economics. Later China will be revealing its sales numbers and
:06:04. > :06:06.figures for industrial production. He will give us an insight into how
:06:07. > :06:08.Chinese consumers are behaving and also provide an indication of how
:06:09. > :06:11.the country's main factories are the country's main factories are
:06:12. > :06:15.faring so far this year. In other business News making headlines,
:06:16. > :06:21.Britain's biggest satellite television company has confirmed its
:06:22. > :06:24.interest in buying its sister companies in Germany and Italy. The
:06:25. > :06:28.UK broadcasting giant said the move would have the potential to create a
:06:29. > :06:37.world`class multinational paid TV group. Rupert Murdoch owns almost
:06:38. > :06:43.40% of Sky. Several former Barclays executives will be questioned over a
:06:44. > :06:47.deal in 2008. They include former chief executive of diamonds, who is
:06:48. > :06:52.among 12 senior managers due to be quizzed. Another ex` chief executive
:06:53. > :06:57.was also named by the Financial Times and will also be interviewed.
:06:58. > :07:03.The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced plans for a public share
:07:04. > :07:07.sale later this year. Of part of its US affiliate, Citizens Bank. It is
:07:08. > :07:10.expected to raise a lot of money. They turned it into one of the
:07:11. > :07:17.biggest regional banks in America. It has since in bailed out by the UK
:07:18. > :07:24.government in 2008. RBS has been under pressure to sell its foreign
:07:25. > :07:29.holdings. Shares in Sharp rising by more than 4% in Tokyo trading, after
:07:30. > :07:34.the firm reported its first annual profit in several years following a
:07:35. > :07:39.huge restructuring move. Japan's electronics giant reported a net
:07:40. > :07:44.gain of $140 million for the 12 months to March. More than double
:07:45. > :07:49.its own forecast. Share sharp is the largest maker of LCD screens used in
:07:50. > :07:53.televisions and smartphones. India's stock market owns in a few
:07:54. > :07:59.hours' time, giving investors the chance to react to the first exit
:08:00. > :08:05.polls released last night, after they racked `` wrapped up voting in
:08:06. > :08:09.their five`week election process. The BJP, under the leadership of
:08:10. > :08:20.Narendra Modi, will form the next government. Our correspondent has
:08:21. > :08:25.more from Mumbai. This is the Mumbai stock exchange, located in the heart
:08:26. > :08:29.of the financial capital of India. It is the best indicator of how
:08:30. > :08:34.investors are feeling, and in the part few months, the only way has
:08:35. > :08:40.been up. Time after time, the market have seen new record highs. Foreign
:08:41. > :08:46.investors are low and have put $5 billion into Indian companies in the
:08:47. > :08:50.last five months. It is a frenzy driven by the opinion that India is
:08:51. > :08:57.set for a change of government. Polls have placed the coalition of
:08:58. > :09:02.BJP headed by Narendra Modi as the front will run to form the next met.
:09:03. > :09:09.The markets want a government led by Narendra Modi. And they also hope
:09:10. > :09:15.that Narendra Modi can do it without the support of his coalition
:09:16. > :09:21.partners, and can get some kind of a clean sweep, which would lead to a
:09:22. > :09:27.lot of stability as far as policies are concerned. They won't have to
:09:28. > :09:32.dance to the tunes of the coalition partners as they have seen the last
:09:33. > :09:38.few years. Many expect sharp rises when trading begins on Tuesday. Some
:09:39. > :09:41.are urging caution. Opinion polls turned out to be absolutely wrong
:09:42. > :09:47.during the previous two elections. That left many investors worried, as
:09:48. > :09:51.the fear is that stock markets could see a major fall if the prediction
:09:52. > :10:00.turned out to be different from the outcome. But whatever happens today,
:10:01. > :10:05.the long`term mood of investors, both from home and abroad, will be
:10:06. > :10:13.determined not by what people are predicting will happen, but by who
:10:14. > :10:18.takes power when the votes are in. In the markets, let's have a quick
:10:19. > :10:23.look at Asian stocks. Broadly, in positive territory in mid`morning
:10:24. > :10:28.trade, after an overnight boom led by the biotech sector. In Hong Kong,
:10:29. > :10:33.South Korea, and Australia, all in the past column. The UK situation
:10:34. > :10:39.remains uncertain after the weekend referendum. Those other markets.
:10:40. > :10:53.Thank you for investing your time with us. I am macro one. `` I am
:10:54. > :10:57.Rico Hizon. Goodbye for now. Relatives of the missing schoolgirls
:10:58. > :10:58.in Nigeria have been speaking about their anguish after seeing a video