:00:02. > :00:12.Those are the latest headlines from BBC News. Now for the latest
:00:12. > :00:23.
:00:23. > :00:26.Hello and welcome to World Business Report. The headlines: Standard &
:00:26. > :00:35.Poor's piles the pressure on Madrid as it slashes Spain's credit rating
:00:35. > :00:45.to one level above junk. Christine Lagarde calls for action in
:00:45. > :01:02.
:01:02. > :01:06.tackling the euro crisis. And testing times for Indian graduates.
:01:06. > :01:11.Hopefully we will get a connection from Singapore. We will work on
:01:11. > :01:15.that now. The pressure is mounting on Madrid as it tries to resist
:01:15. > :01:18.growing calls to request a financial rescue. Late on Wednesday
:01:18. > :01:21.ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut Spain's sovereign credit rating
:01:21. > :01:24.two levels to just above junk status. In the words of S&P, "the
:01:24. > :01:26.capacity of Spain's political institutions to deal with the
:01:26. > :01:33.severe challenges posed by the current economic and financial
:01:33. > :01:43.crisis is declining." Georg Grodzki is head of credit research at fund
:01:43. > :01:44.
:01:45. > :01:51.managers Legal and General. Not a surprise to here the reduction of
:01:51. > :02:01.the credit rating of Spain? They have lined their rating with other
:02:01. > :02:02.
:02:02. > :02:09.agencies. It is an overdue move. On the other hand, we had assumed
:02:09. > :02:13.Spain would be quiet while investigations were underway. The
:02:13. > :02:22.timing is odd especially as Spain yesterday ruled out another
:02:22. > :02:29.austerity plan. Do you think what is going on at the moment, calls
:02:29. > :02:34.from the IMF for more action, is the more pressure on the Prime
:02:34. > :02:40.Minister of Spain to accept help from the European Central Bank?
:02:40. > :02:46.That is the message. The Prime Minister's dilemma is even bigger.
:02:46. > :02:49.He is still trying to avoid the call for help until regional
:02:49. > :02:54.elections are over and maybe until the end of the year. He had a good
:02:54. > :02:59.chance to do so because Spain has raised a lot of money in the market.
:02:59. > :03:07.They only really need another 20 billion. It remains to be seen
:03:07. > :03:16.whether his plane -- plan works. This news in combination with
:03:16. > :03:22.lacklustre news in other parts of the world, it might have to do the
:03:22. > :03:30.painful thing and ask for help. Spanish premier so does not want to
:03:30. > :03:39.ask for help. Who else does not want Spain to ask for help? Germany
:03:39. > :03:45.has also signalled for Spain to muddle through giving it is making
:03:45. > :03:51.an effort to reduce the deficit and given that it is will fund it. It
:03:51. > :04:00.is quite helpful for the German government, domestically, if the
:04:00. > :04:06.reason another request for help. Spend would require a lot of money.
:04:06. > :04:16.Once they are in a programme. is keen for Spain to go cap in hand
:04:16. > :04:18.
:04:18. > :04:23.in the near future? The ECB would allow it to act on its promise to
:04:23. > :04:31.buy bonds. The IMF is apparently preferring to see action sooner
:04:31. > :04:36.rather than later. S and P reduces the credit rating for Spain. We
:04:36. > :04:41.will see how the markets react when they start to trade in Asia. It is
:04:41. > :04:45.not looking good. The IMF and World Bank are of course holding their
:04:45. > :04:48.twice-yearly meetings in Tokyo. IMF chief Christine Lagarde has been
:04:48. > :04:58.calling for more action from world leaders to tackle the global crisis.
:04:58. > :05:02.
:05:02. > :05:07.Comments specifically aimed at Europe. Christine Lagarde was
:05:08. > :05:14.breaking a couple of hours ago. She repeated the message that the
:05:14. > :05:20.prospect for the global recovery haven't dimmed again. The common
:05:20. > :05:26.refrain from the IMF that more action is needed. Where should we
:05:26. > :05:31.see action? Certainly, in a Europe and most specifically in the
:05:31. > :05:36.eurozone which is still at this point the epicentre of the crisis
:05:36. > :05:43.and we're most urgent action is needed. Action has already occurred.
:05:43. > :05:49.The European Central Bank, earlier in the year and with the are right
:05:49. > :05:52.monetary transaction. In Tokyo they have been talking about Spain. They
:05:52. > :05:59.have been questions about whether or not Spain should or should not
:05:59. > :06:03.ask for a bail-out. Christine Lagarde said it was up to
:06:03. > :06:13.individual countries. She pointed out that it was important that
:06:13. > :06:14.
:06:14. > :06:20.Spain be able to continue to borrow at reasonable rates. The New World
:06:20. > :06:26.Bank leader had to say as well because he has been pretty loud as
:06:26. > :06:32.well? This is his first meeting. He has been on the job for 100 for
:06:32. > :06:37.days. His message tied in to what we hear about concerns about the
:06:37. > :06:42.global economy and growth. I asked him about jobs because we are
:06:42. > :06:46.seeing a round-the-world the number of unemployed rising as a result of
:06:46. > :06:53.the crisis. I asked him what the danger was of not addressing the
:06:53. > :06:59.issue. It is what we saw in the Arab Spring. You can have economic
:06:59. > :07:04.growth but it is not inclusive for young people, especially young
:07:04. > :07:08.women, it does not really look at employment across the board, then
:07:08. > :07:17.you're going to be in trouble. You are building a fundamental
:07:17. > :07:20.instability. The banks also want to see more Corporation. The Chinese
:07:20. > :07:30.central bank governor and financial ministers will be missing from the
:07:30. > :07:31.
:07:31. > :07:34.meeting. In India, starting today, more than 200,000 students will be
:07:34. > :07:39.taking in the Common entrance test to business schools around the
:07:39. > :07:41.country. The competition to get into the premier schools has always
:07:41. > :07:51.been tough but with the economy slowing down, there is even more
:07:51. > :07:57.
:07:57. > :08:01.Starting out in the corporate world, but it has not been as easy as
:08:01. > :08:06.Pavan Shanbhog thought it would be. When he began business-school two
:08:06. > :08:10.years ago, he expected to land a high-paid job with a multinational
:08:10. > :08:15.company. Instead, after he graduated earlier this year, he
:08:15. > :08:19.spent months searching for a job and has only recently been hired.
:08:19. > :08:28.To be frank, I had to wait for a long time to just get into a
:08:28. > :08:33.company. I had to compromise when it comes to pay. The starting
:08:33. > :08:38.salaries from top business school graduates are still high. For those
:08:38. > :08:45.from loll around institutions have dropped by 15% since last year.
:08:46. > :08:53.Industry bodies have warned about the lower standard of education.
:08:53. > :09:00.you look at the entire range. The top 25% a good. The next 25% but
:09:00. > :09:04.passable. 50% is rubbish. I feel sorry for those students and the
:09:04. > :09:09.money that parents pay because they're not getting anything.
:09:09. > :09:17.the top rank universities cannot match up according to many surveys.
:09:17. > :09:21.India has the largest population in the world yet, they run to enough
:09:21. > :09:28.skilled people for companies to hire and the country is not reaping
:09:28. > :09:32.the benefits of its demographic superiority. A mixed day for the
:09:32. > :09:38.markets. In South Korea they cut interest rates for the second time
:09:38. > :09:41.in four months by 0.25%. In South Korea, they downgraded their