Hopeful of solution to eurozone crisis at G-20: FM

The government hopes that world leaders will be able to find a solution to the eurozone crisis at the G-20 Finance Ministers' Summit scheduled in November, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today.

"I am expecting at the margins of the fund bank (IMF) meeting, the problem of the Europe crisis, high sovereign debt and other related issues will be discussed," he said on the sidelines of the Foundation Day celebrations of Bank of Maharashtra here.

"I am confident that when we meet again in Paris for the G-20 Finance Minister's Summit to make a recommendation for the leaders of this summit, it will be possible for world leaders to work out a solution which can resolve the crisis," he said.

However, Mukherjee added that there was no readymade solution to the European problem.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) meets next week and it is widely expected that the sovereign debt crisis, along with fears of a double-dip recession, will be discussed among world leaders to arrive at a possible solution.

At present, the eurozone nations of Greece, Italy and Portugal are mired in a deepening debt crisis on account of their sovereign debt soaring above their respective GDPs.

Even rich economies such as France and Germany are facing the heat, due to their substantial exposure to government-issued bonds of these affected nations.

Persisting economic turmoil in Europe could have an adverse impact on the growth prospects of emerging economies like India, with a reduction in exports and other trading activities.

Separately, Mukherjee stressed on the importance of financial inclusion to drive future growth in the banking system at the function.

"Financial inclusion is a vital part of the Indian banking system. We have set a target for covering 74,000 villages under the banking net by March, 2012, and I am happy to say that already 29,800 villages have been covered by the end of last fiscal," he said.

The government, he said, was aiming to transfer money to eligible beneficiaries of various government schemes through banking channels to attain financial inclusion.

"All banks should use technology to reach out to people in far-flung areas of the country," Mukherjee said.