NEW DELHI: Global agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Friday maintained status quo on India’s sovereign ratings but said that stable outlook reflects that growth will remain strong over the next two years. It kept India's outlook 'stable' in its latest ratings.Elaborating on the rating, S&P said India will maintain its sound external accounts position and fiscal deficits will remain broadly in line with expectations."The ratings on India reflect the country's strong GDP growth, sound external profile, and improving monetary credibility. India's strong democratic institutions and its free press promote policy stability and compromise, and also underpin the ratings," the ratings agency said in a statement."These strengths are balanced against vulnerabilities stemming from the country's low per capita income and relatively high general government debt stock," it added.Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said that the global agency chose to play cautious by keeping India's ratings unchanged and hoped that it will upgrade next year.The Narendra Modi government was hopeful that S&P would upgrade its rankings for India, proving a double booster shot to sentiment, close on the heels of the Moody’s upgrade last week, which came after a gap of 14 years.S&P had last changed India's rating in January 2007, to BBB-, which is the lowest. The outlook assigned then was 'stable'. It changed the outlook to 'negative' in 2009 and raised it to 'stable' in 2010.In 2012, S&P again lowered the outlook to 'negative', which it raised to 'stable' soon after the Modi government assumed office in 2014. The rating, however, remained unchanged at BBB- and it stays the same for now.Last week, Moody's revised the country's sovereign ratings to Baa2 from Baa3, citing the implementation of several reforms like the GST rollout, the insolvency act and demonetisation. The Moody's ratings of Baa2 is an investment grade rating and marginally better than S&P's current assessment.On Friday, the equity markets had closed on a positive note in anticipation of a positive revision as Sensex closed with a gain of about 100 points.