Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday expressed concerns over the slow progress of reforms in banking, insurance, pension and capital markets. But he hoped these sectors would turn a new leaf in the remaining tenure of the UPA government.

Chidambaram said, maintaining growth of over 8% for four years had been one of the biggest achievements of the government. ?Financial sector reforms are lagging. We need to push through financial sector reforms in banking, insurance and pension, and the unfinished agenda in the capital markets. But I still think that we have 16 months and we might be able to make some progress,? Chidambaram said at the India Economic Summit here.

The government has been working overtime to carry out financial sector reforms. But continued resistance from the Left parties have seen little headway being made in banking, insurance and pension.

The issue of raising the foreign direct investment cap in insurance from the present 26% was referred to a group of ministers, but nothing much has come out of that. Progress has neither been made In the banking reforms Bill. A small part of the amendment Bill on the limit on statutory liquidity ratio was separately passed since the Bill in its full form was opposed by the Left parties.

Chidambaram also said India might miss some of the targets mentioned in the United Nations? millennium development goals, but it was in the world?s interest that the country achieved these objectives. ?We have fallen behind in some of the Millennium Development Goals. While it is possible to meet some of the goals, some others may take another 3-4 years,? he said in his address.

The Millennium Declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2000 had set eight goals to be met by 2015. There are 189 countries that signed the declaration to take measures for reducing poverty, hunger, gender inequality, disease and environment degradation, and increasing literacy.

Chidambaram said it was in the interest of the world that India and China, with nearly one-third of the global population, met these targets.