Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee leaves for UK to strengthen financial sector collaboration

NEW DELHI: Looking to strengthen ties with the UK in the financial sector, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee leaves for London on Sunday to take part in a ministerial-level meeting being held tomorrow.

Accompanied by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary R Gopalan, Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu and Sebi Chairman U K Sinha, Mukherjee will attend the fourth chapter of the ministerial-level India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue.

"The Finance Minister will co-chair the dialogue with George Osborne, Chancellor of Exchequer, UK. The issues of UK-India partnership in education and skills, structural policy reforms and strengthening of India-UK financial sector collaboration are high on the agenda," an official statement said.

The dialogue would also focus on a wide range of issues such as strengthening of the G-20 and IMF surveillance, the UK-India infrastructure partnership, global and domestic financial regulatory reforms and strengthening of UK-India financial sector reforms, among others.

A bilateral meeting between Mukherjee and Osborne will also take place on the sidelines of the dialogue to exchange views on macroeconomic policy issues, climate change finance and issues of mutual commercial concern, among others.

Mukherjee returns to India on July 26.