As the US moves towards eliminating tax benefits for American firms outsourcing jobs to foreign countries, India on Tuesday said protectionist steps by developed nations would complicate the global financial crisis.

"Developed countries should not resort to protectionism to overcome this (financial) crisis. Any sort of protectionism will complicate the problem instead of resolving it," India's acting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in the capital.

He said during the time of crisis developed economies must ensure that there is no hindrance in the flow of investments to the developing countries.

Mukherjee said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had articulated India's views during bilateral meetings with world leaders on the margins of the ASEM summit in Beijing last year and also at the G-20 meeting in New York.

The US on November 15, 2008, hosted the first G-20 economic conference, which deliberated the ways to overcome the financial crisis. The next G20 summit will be held on April 2 in London.

On February 26, US President Barack Obama in his maiden budget speech said his administration would do away with tax breaks for firms outsourcing jobs to overseas destinations, including India. At the same time, the US administration would be providing tax relief to 95 percent of American working families.