Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said his agenda for the next few years is to bring India's economy back to 9% growth rate and ensure the benefits of development reach everyone.

The Prime Minister in an interview days ahead of his visit to the US said that he wants the growth to be inclusive to and its benefits to reach all segments of the population. He said that "A growth rate of about 9% per annum and to ensure that this growth is an inclusive growth that the benefits of development reach out to all sectors of our population.”

Responding to questions on the economic crisis, the Prime Minister was optimistic of US' recovery from last year's crisis. He said that "With the entrepreneurial skills of the US business class and the US educational system, I have no doubt that the United States will overcome this temporary setback.”

As far as India is concerned, its banking system, he said that is better regulated. He said that "We don't allow our banking system to invest heavily in those types of assets. Our export growth rate has sharply declined. The flow of capital has also been affected. But more recently, capital has started coming back to our country. Before the crisis, our growth rate was at 8.5% to 9% per year. This year it will be about 6.5%. In two years, we should go back to 9% growth rate.”

(Sourced from Financial Express)