Indonesia hopes for investment grade rating 2011

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Indonesia hopes to regain an investment grade sovereign rating this year, the country's trade minister said on Saturday.

"I hope we can get back into investment grade this year," Mari Elka Pangetsu said in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Indonesia moved a step closer to securing a coveted top investment rating earlier this month when Moody's upgraded its sovereign debt to within one notch of investment grade and flagged the outlook as stable.

The upgrade from Ba2 to Ba1 puts Indonesia one step below that of BRIC nations Brazil and India -- and other ratings agencies such as Standard & Poors are likely to follow suit this year.

(Reporting by Natsuko Waki and Chyen Yee Lee; editing by Mark Heinrich)