Financial inclusion must for sustainable growth: Mukherjee

MUMBAI: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today pitched for greater focus on providing financial services to the rural populace to attain sustainable economic growth and asked banks to leverage modern technology to achieve this goal.

"Banks need to leverage modern technologies...to provide banking and financial services to the rural populace and thereby create hitherto unprecedented economic opportunities...inclusive growth is crucial for achieving sustainable economic development," Mukherjee said.

He was speaking at an event organised by State Bank of India here to celebrate SBI's core banking technology implementation.

Noting that over nine crore farmer households in the country did not have access to credit either from institutional or non-institutional sources, Mukherjee said that taking financial services to the unbanked population of the country was a priority to the Government.

"Financial inclusion and the extension of financial services to every citizen of the country is a priority for the Government. The goal of financial inclusion cannot be achieved without the help of technology," Mukherjee said.

Mukherjee called upon the Indian banking and corporate community to join hands for imparting inclusive growth through effective use of technology, which, he said, is essential for the Government to reach the benefits of its various developmental programmes to the rural poor.