11/10/2012 World Business Report

Those are the latest headlines from BBC News. Now for the latest

Hello and welcome to World Business Report. The headlines: Standard &

Poor's piles the pressure on Madrid as it slashes Spain's credit rating

to one level above junk. Christine Lagarde calls for action in

tackling the euro crisis. And testing times for Indian graduates.

Hopefully we will get a connection from Singapore. We will work on

that now. The pressure is mounting on Madrid as it tries to resist

growing calls to request a financial rescue. Late on Wednesday

ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut Spain's sovereign credit rating

two levels to just above junk status. In the words of S&P, "the

capacity of Spain's political institutions to deal with the

severe challenges posed by the current economic and financial

crisis is declining." Georg Grodzki is head of credit research at fund

managers Legal and General. Not a surprise to here the reduction of

the credit rating of Spain? They have lined their rating with other

agencies. It is an overdue move. On the other hand, we had assumed

Spain would be quiet while investigations were underway. The

timing is odd especially as Spain yesterday ruled out another

austerity plan. Do you think what is going on at the moment, calls

from the IMF for more action, is the more pressure on the Prime

Minister of Spain to accept help from the European Central Bank?

That is the message. The Prime Minister's dilemma is even bigger.

He is still trying to avoid the call for help until regional

elections are over and maybe until the end of the year. He had a good

chance to do so because Spain has raised a lot of money in the market.

They only really need another 20 billion. It remains to be seen

whether his plane -- plan works. This news in combination with

lacklustre news in other parts of the world, it might have to do the

painful thing and ask for help. Spanish premier so does not want to

ask for help. Who else does not want Spain to ask for help? Germany

has also signalled for Spain to muddle through giving it is making

an effort to reduce the deficit and given that it is will fund it. It

is quite helpful for the German government, domestically, if the

reason another request for help. Spend would require a lot of money.

Once they are in a programme. is keen for Spain to go cap in hand

in the near future? The ECB would allow it to act on its promise to

buy bonds. The IMF is apparently preferring to see action sooner

rather than later. S and P reduces the credit rating for Spain. We

will see how the markets react when they start to trade in Asia. It is

not looking good. The IMF and World Bank are of course holding their

twice-yearly meetings in Tokyo. IMF chief Christine Lagarde has been

calling for more action from world leaders to tackle the global crisis.

Comments specifically aimed at Europe. Christine Lagarde was

breaking a couple of hours ago. She repeated the message that the

prospect for the global recovery haven't dimmed again. The common

refrain from the IMF that more action is needed. Where should we

see action? Certainly, in a Europe and most specifically in the

eurozone which is still at this point the epicentre of the crisis

and we're most urgent action is needed. Action has already occurred.

The European Central Bank, earlier in the year and with the are right

monetary transaction. In Tokyo they have been talking about Spain. They

have been questions about whether or not Spain should or should not

ask for a bail-out. Christine Lagarde said it was up to

individual countries. She pointed out that it was important that

Spain be able to continue to borrow at reasonable rates. The New World

Bank leader had to say as well because he has been pretty loud as

well? This is his first meeting. He has been on the job for 100 for

days. His message tied in to what we hear about concerns about the

global economy and growth. I asked him about jobs because we are

seeing a round-the-world the number of unemployed rising as a result of

the crisis. I asked him what the danger was of not addressing the

issue. It is what we saw in the Arab Spring. You can have economic

growth but it is not inclusive for young people, especially young

women, it does not really look at employment across the board, then

you're going to be in trouble. You are building a fundamental

instability. The banks also want to see more Corporation. The Chinese

central bank governor and financial ministers will be missing from the

meeting. In India, starting today, more than 200,000 students will be

taking in the Common entrance test to business schools around the

country. The competition to get into the premier schools has always

been tough but with the economy slowing down, there is even more

Starting out in the corporate world, but it has not been as easy as

Pavan Shanbhog thought it would be. When he began business-school two

years ago, he expected to land a high-paid job with a multinational

company. Instead, after he graduated earlier this year, he

spent months searching for a job and has only recently been hired.

To be frank, I had to wait for a long time to just get into a

company. I had to compromise when it comes to pay. The starting

salaries from top business school graduates are still high. For those

from loll around institutions have dropped by 15% since last year.

Industry bodies have warned about the lower standard of education.

you look at the entire range. The top 25% a good. The next 25% but

passable. 50% is rubbish. I feel sorry for those students and the

money that parents pay because they're not getting anything.

the top rank universities cannot match up according to many surveys.

India has the largest population in the world yet, they run to enough

skilled people for companies to hire and the country is not reaping

the benefits of its demographic superiority. A mixed day for the

markets. In South Korea they cut interest rates for the second time

in four months by 0.25%. In South Korea, they downgraded their