Indian money in Swiss banks reduced by 80% after Modi government came to power: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that the amount of Indian money deposited in Swiss National Bank has reduced by 80 percent between 2014 and 2017 after the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.

Responding to questions regarding the details of money stashed in Swiss banks, Goyal told Rajya Sabha that loans and deposits of individual Indians in the bank decreased by 34.5 percent in the last year compared to the previous year.

Goyal further refuted media claims regarding total liabilities that Swiss Bank had towards India between 2016-2017 and said that the data has been misinterpreted.

“News reports quoting Swiss Bank’s annual statistics showed increase of 50 percent in its total liabilities towards India in '16-'17. Data is misinterpreted, it includes non-deposit liabilities, business of Swiss branches in India, inter bank transactions, fiduciary liability,” he said.

It is assumed that assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland are undeclared. BIS data shows non-Bank loans and deposits (constituting individual and corporate deposits used as Black money haven in past and exclude interbank transactions) fell by 34.5 percent in 2017 compared to 2016, Goyal said.

'Bank of International settlements data shows a decrease of 34.5 percent in assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland in 2017, as compared to 2016. Earlier data claiming 50 percent increase misinterpreted,' he added.