'Economy to be back at 9pc growth rate by 2011'

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) The economy would get back to nine per cent growth rate by 2011, says an article by the global rating agency Standard & Poor's, an estimate higher than other agencies.

"India is on course to return to the pre-crisis growth rates of about nine per cent from 2011," said a guest opinion article recently published by S&P's Ratings Services, titled 'Why India Will Continue To Gain Stature In The Global Economy.'

However, the challenge is not merely achieving a nine per cent growth rate but also sustaining it, said DK Joshi, principal economist with Crisil, a subsidiary of S&P India.

The economy grew at a growth rate of about nine per cent till 2008, after which it was hit by the global financial slowdown by September of that year. However, in the second quarter of the current fiscal GDP grew at 7.9 per cent.