:00:00. > :00:00.Now for the latest financial news, with Aaron and
:00:00. > :00:20.An economy choked by austerity, or one that has just failed to reform?
:00:21. > :00:23.No end to the misery for Greece, as it slides back towards recession.
:00:24. > :00:27.Plus: Turning breakdowns into big bucks.
:00:28. > :00:34.Why the AA is answering the call of India's new motorists.
:00:35. > :00:50.How long have I got? You give me nine minutes and I will give you a
:00:51. > :00:51.snapshot of the latest in the world of business and money.
:00:52. > :00:53.We start with Greece, and growing fears the country is
:00:54. > :00:56.Some are blaming the harsh austerity imposed
:00:57. > :01:00.by the EU and IMF, others a failure by Athens to stick to its reforms.
:01:01. > :01:03.Either way, the suffering of the Greek people is set to continue.
:01:04. > :01:15.Greece returned to economic growth last year, after a six-year slump,
:01:16. > :01:19.but it looks like that recovery is over.
:01:20. > :01:21.GDP figures for the three months to September
:01:22. > :01:29.They are expected to show Greece's economy contracted 1% compared to
:01:30. > :01:31.the last three-month period, wiping out the growth
:01:32. > :01:41.And it is a trend that could be set to continue.
:01:42. > :01:44.Both the European Commission and the OECD warn that Greek GDP
:01:45. > :01:50.will end the year down 1.4%, with a similar fall again next year.
:01:51. > :01:53.A quarter of the Greek workforce are still unemployed, over twice the EU
:01:54. > :02:04.average, and almost half of those under 25 are without a job.
:02:05. > :02:06.On Thursday, Greece was paralysed by a general
:02:07. > :02:09.strike over new austerity measures, with over 20,000 protesters taking
:02:10. > :02:18.Trade union leaders and many Greeks have turned on
:02:19. > :02:20.Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Syriza party, accusing them
:02:21. > :02:42.Here is what some had to say yesterday.
:02:43. > :02:45.TRANSLATION: I believe strikes can backfire on the worker, but there
:02:46. > :02:47.are some moments when people need to react.
:02:48. > :02:49.This is the time when people need to react.
:02:50. > :02:52.Enough already with the taxes, enough with the double talk.
:02:53. > :02:59.TRANSLATION: It's an expression of worry about the uncertainty and
:03:00. > :03:02.insecurity that prevails in our country, and for the living
:03:03. > :03:08.standards of our society and people.
:03:09. > :03:13.TRANSLATION: Enough with cuts to our pensions and wages.
:03:14. > :03:16.The Greek people must rise up and take to the streets,
:03:17. > :03:18.because the situation is only going to get worse.
:03:19. > :03:20.TRANSLATION: These measures that the government wants to pass are
:03:21. > :03:32.Vicky Pryce is chief economics adviser at the Centre for Economic
:03:33. > :03:43.Always good to have you in the studio. Thanks for getting up so
:03:44. > :03:46.early for this. We were just listening to some of the protesters,
:03:47. > :03:53.obviously not very happy. The problem outside is we look at that
:03:54. > :03:57.and say that Greece signed up to this. They voted in favour of
:03:58. > :04:01.staying in the EU, taking on-board the austerity. All that money that
:04:02. > :04:05.Greece is getting doesn't come for free. The truth is of course that
:04:06. > :04:09.not everyone voted for austerity. Quite a lot of the demonstrations
:04:10. > :04:13.were supported by a Syriza, the ruling party. So there is a bit of
:04:14. > :04:16.schizophrenia in Greece which is going on still, to this day, in
:04:17. > :04:20.terms of what do we really want from all these arrangements we have made?
:04:21. > :04:24.But everyone who has looked at this, the demonstrations were quite
:04:25. > :04:30.peaceful, there were a few anarchists as usual. But if we had
:04:31. > :04:36.New Democracy, the hard right party, we would have had paralysis in
:04:37. > :04:39.Greece. So there is a limit to the Syriza demonstrations we are going
:04:40. > :04:44.to see. So in some ways what we see is what we get and it is not going
:04:45. > :04:50.to get much worse. Particular sticking point seems at the moment,
:04:51. > :04:54.we've got Greece's European peers, other countries, are venting their
:04:55. > :05:00.frustration that happens is act into slowly on the reforms. -- acting too
:05:01. > :05:06.slowly. One of the sticking point is that Athens wants to protect those
:05:07. > :05:11.who want to write off their mortgage debt, and Europe is not going to
:05:12. > :05:15.have that, surely? It is a problem, many Greeks have just stopped paying
:05:16. > :05:20.interest on their debt because they simply haven't had the money to do
:05:21. > :05:23.so. So they have been paying taxes but they have actually not kept up
:05:24. > :05:27.with their payment schedules. Now the question is, what do you do with
:05:28. > :05:32.these houses that people have, the primary property is the real issue,
:05:33. > :05:35.do you lose the primary property as well as a betting else you can't pay
:05:36. > :05:39.back. And the issue is that these properties that people have are just
:05:40. > :05:43.not worth an awful lot right now. What will banks do with all those
:05:44. > :05:47.houses they are going to acquire? It makes no real sense because what is
:05:48. > :05:50.going to happen as little like what is going on in Ireland. What we
:05:51. > :05:53.really should be looking at is how to restructure the banks, how to do
:05:54. > :05:59.something about the bad debts that are there. It hasn't happened. They
:06:00. > :06:04.have to do something about the banks, 14.5 billion euros within the
:06:05. > :06:09.next matter of weeks or they are all going to basically closed shop. And
:06:10. > :06:13.we have seen that. Not all of this ugliness, if you will, and the pain
:06:14. > :06:17.the Greeks are feeling, are we getting one step closer to the
:06:18. > :06:20.realisation from the rest of the world that Greece is going to have
:06:21. > :06:25.to write off some of this debt and we will have to suck it up and cop
:06:26. > :06:28.it? You have to go through various places, it will not be anything like
:06:29. > :06:34.as large as people expected. We have just seen the European bank for
:06:35. > :06:37.restructuring and development saying they will not participate in funding
:06:38. > :06:40.some of this recapitalisation, which is a sign of adding a bit of trust
:06:41. > :06:45.and confidence to the whole system. So I think we will be, through
:06:46. > :06:48.various steps, getting there. But we have to do that first, and then I
:06:49. > :06:52.think absolutely looking again at the debt situation in Greece is
:06:53. > :06:56.going to be a must. Always a pleasure in a short and sweet
:06:57. > :06:57.programme, thank you very much for joining us there.
:06:58. > :07:00.As you have been hearing, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
:07:01. > :07:03.continues his trip to the UK on Friday, and is keen to convince
:07:04. > :07:05.British firms to come and do business in his country.
:07:06. > :07:08.From Triumph Motorbikes and Costa Coffee to Vodafone and JCB,
:07:09. > :07:10.some well-known UK names are already operating there, and now
:07:11. > :07:13.another famous brand is testing the market, trying to cash in
:07:14. > :07:36.If you break down in the UK, chances are you will call the AA.
:07:37. > :07:42.It is the biggest roadside assistance company in the country.
:07:43. > :07:46.It has 14 million customers, and last year it came to the aid of 3.5
:07:47. > :07:49.million motorists. It has got its sights on a brand-new
:07:50. > :07:51.market. The roads of India's cities are already pretty congested.
:07:52. > :07:57.Every month, about 150,000 new cars are sold across India.
:07:58. > :08:01.But while those vehicles will have warranties and breakdown cover,
:08:02. > :08:05.it is estimated that more than 20 million cars do not.
:08:06. > :08:10.And that gap in the market is why the AA has purchased half
:08:11. > :08:17.We are very excited about the prospects for India.
:08:18. > :08:26.We think the India market will be three times the size of the UK
:08:27. > :08:33.There will not be any of the famous yellow trucks
:08:34. > :08:36.on the road, but you will find its logo on vans belonging to its
:08:37. > :08:42.new partner. We needed a local partner with local contacts and
:08:43. > :08:57.local expertise. And we think that the business will benefit from our
:08:58. > :09:01.experience. They have been going ten years, we have been going for 110
:09:02. > :09:04.years. We have a lot of knowledge and experience. The technology
:09:05. > :09:10.appeals. In the drivers tend to only call the firmware problem occurs.
:09:11. > :09:12.They want customers to pay in advance for breakdown membership.
:09:13. > :09:14.The customer wants service technicians coming.
:09:15. > :09:17.They want to deliver the same promise in India and
:09:18. > :09:20.That is where they can make a difference.
:09:21. > :09:24.Changing that habit and selling the idea of a recovery service run by
:09:25. > :09:28.two well-known established brands will determine if the ad venture
:09:29. > :09:52.In other news: Shares of Swiss agricultural chemicals giant
:09:53. > :09:55.Syngenta have soared in the US, on reports of a massive takeover bid
:09:56. > :09:59.According to Bloomberg, Syngenta has rejected
:10:00. > :10:04.the $42 billion offer by ChemChina, citing regulatory concerns.
:10:05. > :10:06.It follows a similar offer from US rival Monsanto,
:10:07. > :10:14.which was withdrawn after Syngenta dismissed it as too low.
:10:15. > :10:15.which was withdrawn after Syngenta dismissed it as too low.
:10:16. > :10:20.Could be a bit of a bidding war going on. We will keep across that
:10:21. > :10:25.and take a quick flash of the markets. The market in Asia down,
:10:26. > :10:27.commodity prices down, worries about China and US interest rates. All
:10:28. > :10:31.very ho-hum. Don't forget,
:10:32. > :10:34.you can get in touch with me