Hamburg - German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined in Saturday in criticism of big bonuses being paid to the executives of banks which are receiving government aid during the financial crisis.

"It's incomprehensible that banks which the state is propping up are in many cases paying out enormous bonuses," she told the news weekly Der Spiegel, adding that the subject would be up for discussion at a summit of the G20 nations in London in April.

The G20 group comprises the world's largest economies.

Merkel called for bonus systems to be "internationally more explicitly linked to the genuinely sustainable business success of banks." dpa