The world economy may be recovering from the global financial crisis, but finance ministers still face enormous challenges in guiding their countries towards sustainable growth and prosperity. Here The Banker salutes those whose determination has proved particularly effective in dealing with their respective national issues.

Even by the standards of usually vibrant political debate in India, 2010 has been a particularly turbulent year for the government of prime minister Manmohan Singh, faced with a series of corruption scandals and the 11th-hour preparations for the Commonwealth Games. None of this seems to have distracted veteran finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who first served in this role in 1982, from bringing greater coherence and discipline to India's fiscal policy.

Consistently strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth has done little to stem rising budget deficits and high public debt, while the efficacy of government spending and investment and the efficiency of the large state-owned enterprise sector continue to be called into question. The task ahead is still substantial but, over the past year, Mr Mukherjee has made significant inroads.

He is targeting a budget deficit reduction to 4.1% of GDP in fiscal year 2012/13, from 6.5% in 2008/09. The 2010/11 budget also includes the country's first explicit target to cut public debt as a proportion of GDP. With a large domestic savings sector, India has not needed to rely significantly on external borrowing, but a central government debt in excess of 60% of GDP and heavy borrowing by some state-owned enterprises combine to squeeze the availability of credit for the private sector.

The vast array of subsidies on essential items, both for individuals and key economic sectors - on everything from fuel to fertilisers - is one of the structural challenges to bringing down the budget deficit. Curbs on these subsidies invariably cause political pain, but Mr Mukherjee has made a start, agreeing a rise of almost 7% in gasoline prices in June. In addition to helping cut the fuel subsidy bill for the budget, this move also won plaudits from his fellow G-20 finance ministers, who are urging an end to fuel subsidies around the world as a way to encourage more efficient fuel use - and hopefully lower carbon emissions as a result.

The major component of the deficit-reduction scheme is an ambitious programme of privatisations for India's still-large state sector. Mr Mukherjee has said he wants all Indian companies to have at least 25% of their shares publicly listed. Despite global market volatility, investor confidence in India's economic story was demonstrated in October 2010, when the initial public offering (IPO) of 10% of Coal India raised almost $3.5bn for the government. The largest IPO in Indian history, this issue was 15.4 times oversubscribed, and drew 484 foreign investors.

Next up for sale are the Steel Authority and the Shipping Corporation, and Engineers India has already launched a successful IPO. If Mr Mukherjee can follow up this promising start to the privatisation programme, he stands a good chance of meeting his fiscal targets.

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