Lima, Oct 9 (IANS): Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has called for unconventional ways to raise funds in the current context of global economic slowdown to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, an official statement said on Friday.

Addressing the meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in the Peruvian capital on Thursday, Jaitley said: "India has stepped up public investments, particularly in infrastructure sector which offset slowdown in private investments," an Indian finance ministry statement said.

In this connection, he "elaborated the unique identity linked financial inclusion programme which has resulted in opening of 180 million new bank accounts enabling direct transfer of benefits under various government welfare schemes," the statement added.

The 17 SDGs are to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight anti-poverty targets to be reached by the end of 2015.

The new 17 goals cover a wide range of issues, such as ending poverty and hunger, tackling inequalities, empowering women, fostering sustainable economic growth, transforming and promoting sustainable consumption and production, combating climate change, promoting employment, improving infrastructure and establishing accountable and inclusive institutions to achieve sustainable development.

The UN will hold a summit in Paris in December, focusing on climate change. The new goals are closely linked with this summit.

With the slowdown in most developing regions expected to continue this year, the United Nations Trade and Development Report 2015, released earlier this week in Geneva, called for radical reform of the international monetary and financial system to meet the demands of the SDGs.