New Delhi:
A day after Switzerland’s central bank SNB (Swiss National Bank) released data showing significant rise in deposits by Indians, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday assured strong action in case somebody is found guilty of wrongdoing.
Goyal, however, has wondered how all of it can be assumed to be black money and said India will get the details of bank accounts from Switzerland by the end of fiscal 2019 under a bilateral treaty.
"From January 1 2018 till end of accounting year, all data will be made available, so how are you assuming that this is black money or illegal transaction," ANI quoted Goyal while talking about the reported rise in Swiss bank deposits by Indians.
Indian has an agreement with Switzerland under which the NDA government will get all data from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018, the Union Minister added.
Agreement between India & Switzerland has this. From January 1 2018 till end of accounting year, all data will be made available. So why assume this is black money or illegal transactions?: Piyush Goyal on reports that money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose 50% in 2017 pic.twitter.com/Gui44RaCBe
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2018
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Around 40 per cent of this money is because of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), Goyal said.
On February 4, 2014, then finance minister P Chidambaram introduced the scheme, under which an individual could remit up to USD 2,50,000 per year.
"We will have all information. If someone is found guilty, the government will take strong action against them," Goyal concluded.
Going by the data released by SNB on Thursday, money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50 per cent to CHF 1.01 billion (Rs 7,000 crore) in 2017, reversing a three-year downward trend amid India's clampdown on suspected black money stashed there.
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In comparison, the total funds held by all foreign clients of Swiss banks rose about 3 per cent to CHF 1.46 trillion or about Rs 100 lakh crore in 2017.
