HomeEconomy NewsPiyush Goyal says black money in Swiss banks reduced by 80% under Modi government

Piyush Goyal says black money in Swiss banks reduced by 80% under Modi government

Deposits in Swiss banks for long have been considered black money in popular Indian discourse. The finance minister said that media reports have not taken account of the way the figures have to be interpreted. The Swiss government also said that all assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland cannot be considered as black money.

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By CNBC-TV18 July 25, 2018, 6:51:00 AM IST (Updated)

The amount of money deposited in Swiss banks have been reduced by 80 percent till the end of 2017 after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power in 2014, said Piyush Goyal, finance minister.



The government had sought 4,000 pieces of information from Swiss banks and depending upon the data they receive the government will take action, he said.

After the Swiss National Bank (SNB) issued its annual banking statistics for the 2017 banking year, the government refuted allegations saying that media reports have not taken account of the way the figures have to be interpreted, which has resulted in misleading headlines and analysis.

Swiss ambassador Andreas Baum in a letter to the government said that all assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland cannot be considered as black money.

The letter also said that the right data to identify Indian residents' deposits in Switzerland is through the records published by the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) which collects Locational Banking Statistics (LBS) in collaboration with SNB.

Automatic exchange of information in tax matters between Switzerland and India entered into an agreement on January 1, 2018, Baum said, adding that the detailed financial information on all Indian residents that have an account maintained by a Swiss financial institution in 2018 will be provided for the first time to the Indian tax authorities in September 2019.

"Switzerland applies the international transparency standards and therefore actively supports India in its fight against tax fraud and evasion," the letter said.

The finance ministry on Monday refused to share the copy of three reports on the quantum of black money held by Indians inside the country and abroad, saying its disclosure would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament.

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