China today said its economy in first three months of 2009 grew by 6.1 per cent, its lowest rate in over a decade, thus raising apprehensions about the communist nation losing its status as the world’s fastest growing economy to India.
While the official figures for growth in India’s gross domestic product during the first three months of 2009 is not available as yet, the country’s economy is estimated to have grown by 7.1 per cent in the fiscal ended 31 March.
Given a steeper decline than India in China’s GDP growth rate, which stood at 13 per cent in 2007 and fell to nine per cent in 2008, some experts opined that it would be interesting to watch which of the two economies grow faster going ahead.
Asked if China’s GDP growth rate could fall below that of India’s, Standard & Poor’s chief economist for Asia Pacific, Mr Subir Gokarn said over telephone that it was “quite likely in one particular quarter”, but on a yearly basis it might not be the case at least this year.