80% reduction in Indian money in Swiss banks under Modi government: Sources

NEW DELHI: Indian money in Swiss banks has come down by 80 per cent under the Modi Government, contrary to media reports of it increasing by 50 per cent in 2017, top government sources said on Tuesday.

The sources said that the Swiss banks’ data that was made public has been “misinterpreted” by the media, adding that it includes ‘non-deposit liabilities’, ‘business of Swiss branches located in India’, ‘inter bank transaction’ and ‘fiduciary liability’.

They also said that in a letter to the Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, Swiss ambassador Andreas Baum said, “it is frequently assumed that any assets held by Indian Residents in Switzerland are undeclared (black money)”.

(A copy of the letter from Swiss ambassador Andreas Baum)

A copy of a government report which TOI has access to, shows how the share of Indian money in Swiss banks has declined since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge.

The sources also pointed out that India has signed an agreement with Switzerland on December 21, 2017 under which both countries have started collecting data in accordance with global standards from January 1, 2018. The countries would start the exchange of data from September 2019 on a yearly basis, they said.