London: Prime minister Manmohan Singh has said that India's economic growth in 2008-09 is estimated to have fallen below 7 per cent and is likely to remain at that level in the current fiscal on the back of fiscal and monetary initiatives.

"Our growth rate, which was close to 9 per cent in the previous five years, will fall below 7 per cent in 2008-09... we hope to be able to achieve a similar growth rate in 2009-10, with continuous reliance on monetary and fiscal policy," he said in his remarks at the dinner hosted for leaders of the G-20 summit here on Wednesday night.

Noting that stimulus measures have increased public debt beyond the estimated levels in 2008-09, Singh said, "It is our firm intention to return to a fiscally sustainable path after 2010."

The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) in its advance estimates of national income in February has projected 7.1 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for 2008-09.

Although Singh has expressed the optimism that economic growth rate in the current fiscal would be retained at the 2008-09 level, many leading multilateral agencies including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have forecast moderation in growth.

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Source : PTI