Posting record growth, India seems poised to become a major player in the world economy. Although progress has been spectacular, reforms and the opening up process have remained far from complete and the country will still have to meet many challenges to hold the new course. The Country @rating of Indian-companies has been stable at A4 since 2000, reflecting not only consistent economic performance but also the slow pace of reforms and structural change, as well as the relative frequency of late payments. India's economic growth in 2003-04 will probably be about 7%, after disappointing 4.3% GDP growth in 2002-03. With that dynamism (enviable for many European economies) offset by population growth of almost 2% a year, however, GDP per capita has only been increasing by 2% to 3% a year since 2000. With the farm sector employing nearly 65% of the labour force, fluctuations in rural household incomes have weighed heavily on the economy.
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