:00:07. > :00:08.the daughter had lost her job at the regional council. Those are the
:00:09. > :00:11.latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest financial
:00:12. > :00:18.news with Maryam Moshiri and the World Business Report. Facing the
:00:19. > :00:21.politicians, the bosses of Pfizer and Astrazeneca will be grilled by
:00:22. > :00:24.face British lawmakers today as the US firm says any commitments to
:00:25. > :00:30.retain UK jobs will be legally binding. Breaking records, as the
:00:31. > :00:35.largest election in the world comes to an end the stock markets in India
:00:36. > :00:43.surge to record highs. We head to Mumbai to find out why. Welcome to
:00:44. > :00:49.World Business Report. I'm Maryam Moshiri. Also in the programme, we
:00:50. > :00:52.take a look at how what is expected from the Australian Budget that will
:00:53. > :00:57.be announced in a few hours' time. But first: On Tuesday, Members of
:00:58. > :01:00.Britain's parliament start an investigation into the controversial
:01:01. > :01:02.bid by US drugs giant Pfizer to acquire its Anglo`Swedish rival
:01:03. > :01:05.AstraZeneca. What is worrying the MP's is that if Pfizer's bid
:01:06. > :01:07.succeeds eventually, it could pare down AstraZeneca's research bases in
:01:08. > :01:10.Britain and Sweden. That, in turn, could jeopardise dozens of other,
:01:11. > :01:12.smaller, biomedical companies. The areas around London and the
:01:13. > :01:15.university cities of Oxford and Cambridge are known as the golden
:01:16. > :01:33.triangle of biomedical research in Europe. Jeremy Howell begins this
:01:34. > :01:39.report in Cambridge. I am in the laboratories of Discover, small
:01:40. > :01:44.company based in Cambridge, one of the cities in the so`called Golden
:01:45. > :01:50.Triangle of biomedical research. Tee up working on developing drugs to
:01:51. > :01:53.counter the so`called super bugs. Bacteria common in hospitals right
:01:54. > :02:01.now which are currently drug`resistant. The prospect of a
:02:02. > :02:05.merger between Pfizer and AstraZeneca worries Discover's chief
:02:06. > :02:10.executive. He sells his discoveries to companies did turn into
:02:11. > :02:15.marketable drugs. If AstraZeneca and Pfizer merge, it would be one less
:02:16. > :02:22.company in Europe for him to sell to. What does that mean for a
:02:23. > :02:28.company like Discover? It means we need to look elsewhere in terms of
:02:29. > :02:33.where we market. It could win `` it could mean we have to move to the US
:02:34. > :02:38.where there is more critical mass. More customers are interested in the
:02:39. > :02:43.product and there is a big market. The past decade has seen a decline
:02:44. > :02:51.in UK medical research. Pfizer left research base and AstraZeneca closed
:02:52. > :02:55.its centre. AstraZeneca still does research in Sweden and is building a
:02:56. > :02:58.new research based in Cambridge, which Pfizer says it would keep
:02:59. > :03:03.open. Many politicians and scientists are sceptical about that.
:03:04. > :03:08.But this professor from Oxford University says Britain needs to
:03:09. > :03:14.grab the offer that Pfizer is making to invest in the country. I would
:03:15. > :03:19.rather see them put that money in the UK as opposed to investing it in
:03:20. > :03:24.Germany, Singapore, China. If we push them away from the UK, that is
:03:25. > :03:31.exactly what will happen. They have all these offshore funds, and they
:03:32. > :03:35.are looking to invest them. If we do not give them the opportunity in the
:03:36. > :03:40.UK, they will go elsewhere. Here's hoping that Pfizer and AstraZeneca
:03:41. > :03:42.merging might be matched by a new wave of investment in British
:03:43. > :03:46.biomedical research from fund managers and venture capitalists.
:03:47. > :03:52.But that depends a lot on confidence and Pfizer's play for AstraZeneca
:03:53. > :03:58.seems to have created a lot of uncertainty in the sack. India's
:03:59. > :04:01.stock market the Sensex surged to a record high on Monday, and the rupee
:04:02. > :04:06.rallied to its strongest level in ten months, as voting in the
:04:07. > :04:12.country's election drew to a close. `` uncertainty in the sector. It is
:04:13. > :04:14.a sign investors are confident that Narendra Modi's pro`business BJP
:04:15. > :04:17.group will win, as exit polls suggest a large majority following
:04:18. > :04:20.the phased elections that have been taking place in the country over the
:04:21. > :04:24.last five weeks. Sameer Hashmi joins me now from the stock exchange in
:04:25. > :04:34.Mumbai, the Sensex. I know the markets have opened, has the
:04:35. > :04:38.momentum continued? Absolutely, the momentum has continued. In fact, I
:04:39. > :04:44.would say the party is still on as far as the stock markets are
:04:45. > :04:47.concerned. Friday, Monday, and is now today, they have reached
:04:48. > :04:54.all`time high levels. This is because last night on Monday, the
:04:55. > :04:59.latest exit polls showed that Narendra Modi will be the next Prime
:05:00. > :05:03.Minister come Friday. But some investors are cautious as well,
:05:04. > :05:09.because in the previous two elections, the exit polls have been
:05:10. > :05:12.wrong. But at the moment, Narendra Modi is on course to be the next
:05:13. > :05:17.Prime Minister. Narendra Modi has pledged to boost the Indian economy
:05:18. > :05:23.at which has been going through difficult times, but that is an
:05:24. > :05:26.uphill struggle, is he going to be able to keep the promises he has
:05:27. > :05:35.made to the electorate? That's right, he has been able to imply he
:05:36. > :05:40.has the solutions, but he has an uphill task. If you look at the
:05:41. > :05:45.recent economic data, whether it is inflation of 9%, which they are
:05:46. > :05:48.trying to keep down to 5%, that is one big challenge. The second is the
:05:49. > :05:53.investment climate it in the company, vote domestic and foreign
:05:54. > :05:58.investors need to revive the investment climate. And economic
:05:59. > :06:04.growth, how that has affected economic growth of around 5%. The
:06:05. > :06:09.slowest growth rate India has seen in the last decade. It is clearly a
:06:10. > :06:13.huge uphill task. In the market are not the only thing is driven by
:06:14. > :06:18.sentiment at this point in time. Not logic. Because people here will tell
:06:19. > :06:24.you that they believe Narendra Modi is the right man for the job and can
:06:25. > :06:34.provide for the economy. Koke, sentiment over logic. In the very
:06:35. > :06:37.much. `` thank you very much. How big a Budget problem does Australia
:06:38. > :06:39.have? We'll find out later today, when the country's government
:06:40. > :06:42.details its first Budget since coming to power late last year. With
:06:43. > :06:45.warnings of a crisis for the nation's finances, Australians are
:06:46. > :06:48.being told they'll all have to do the heavy lifting needed to balance
:06:49. > :06:51.the books. So while the local economy is picking up speed.. Locals
:06:52. > :06:54.are bracing themselves for higher taxes, and cuts to welfare as well
:06:55. > :06:57.as a rise in the retirement age. However, despite people expecting a
:06:58. > :07:00.tough Budget, Shane Oliver points out that it's not all doom and gloom
:07:01. > :07:02.Down`Under. We have had the biggest boom in our history, we should be
:07:03. > :07:08.running Budget surpluses now, not deficits. There is a problem there,
:07:09. > :07:20.but we don't have the sort of emergency that we have had over the
:07:21. > :07:24.last years. Joining me now for more on what we can expect is Rico Hizon,
:07:25. > :07:27.live from our business hub in Asia. So Rico, pressure is on for the
:07:28. > :07:34.government to start balancing the books and spending less. It is
:07:35. > :07:39.described as brutal. It is expected to contain the harshest spending
:07:40. > :07:46.cuts in years. Tax cuts for the rich, the raising of the retirement
:07:47. > :07:51.age to 70, are all expected to be included in this latest economic
:07:52. > :07:55.blueprint jobs will be axed, while government agencies such as the
:07:56. > :08:00.Australian renewable energy agency and National water commission are
:08:01. > :08:03.being reported to be shut down. The Prime Minister Tony Abbott has
:08:04. > :08:09.insisted that the accounts are in need of urgent repair, but has come
:08:10. > :08:14.under criticism for backtracking on a key election promise that there
:08:15. > :08:17.will be no nasty surprises. It looks like we are expecting one when the
:08:18. > :08:22.announcement is made in Canberra later today. What about giveaways?
:08:23. > :08:29.Any tax breaks, helping hands for sectors that are struggling? At the
:08:30. > :08:35.moment none. They will likely use this Budget to promise better times
:08:36. > :08:39.ahead. But we can expect that massive nation`building
:08:40. > :08:42.infrastructure projects are likely to be announced such as new suburban
:08:43. > :08:48.roads and a second airport in Sydney. The Australian financial
:08:49. > :08:53.review said that government owned assets will be put up for sale and
:08:54. > :08:57.privatised. This could include the Royal Australian Meant. Overall, the
:08:58. > :09:02.government is looking to the billions of dollars cut from its
:09:03. > :09:05.ballooning Budget deficit which is tipped to reach hundreds of billions
:09:06. > :09:18.of US dollars in the next few years `` Royal Australian Mint. In other
:09:19. > :09:21.news: Citizens Financial Group, the US unit of Britain's Royal Bank of
:09:22. > :09:24.Scotland, has filed with US regulators for an initial public
:09:25. > :09:27.offering. The bank hopes its share sale will raise $100 million. RBS
:09:28. > :09:30.had said last year that it would sell 20`25 percent of Citizens by
:09:31. > :09:33.the end of 2014 through an US IPO, as the bank faces pressure from
:09:34. > :09:35.British regulators to bolster its capital and sell off non`core
:09:36. > :09:38.assets. Citizens provides retail and commercial banking services to about
:09:39. > :09:42.five million customers. The Dow and the S 500 ended the session at
:09:43. > :09:44.record highs on Monday, as shares of internet and biotech companies
:09:45. > :09:47.advanced. The biggest gainers in the US yesterday included Twitter and
:09:48. > :09:49.travel site, TripAdvisor. Internet stocks have been particularly
:09:50. > :09:51.volatile in recent weeks, after concerns that valuations had gone
:09:52. > :09:55.too high. But, with Monday's move, it seems these concerns have been
:09:56. > :09:57.put aside, at least for now. And that's it from me and the team on
:09:58. > :10:06.World Business Report. Stay with us.