The Government on Tuesday claimed that money held by Indians in Swiss banks has come down by 34.5 per cent in 2017 and by over 80 per cent since the Narendra Modi-led government came to power. This is contrary to an earlier report that said deposits went up by 50 per cent, which led to a lot of criticism for the Government.

Quoting a letter received from the Swiss authorities, Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that 50 per cent increase in data is usually misinterpreted as it includes non-deposit liabilities, business of Swiss branches located in India, inter-bank transactions and fiduciary liability. The letter also mentioned that the right data to identify Indian residents’ deposits in Switzerland is published by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) which collects Locational Banking Statistics (LBS) in collaboration with the SNB.

Data from BIS show non-bank loans and deposits (which really constitute the individual and corporate deposits used as black money haven in the past and exclude inter-bank transactions) have fallen by 34.5 per cent in 2017 compared to 2016 ($524 million in 2017 vs $800 million in 2016).

Goyal also said Swiss non-bank loans and deposits have reduced by a significant 80.2 per cent under the NDA government between 2013 and 2017. This broadly corresponds to the Swiss National Banks’ (SNB) reports which show an 82 per cent reduction in total Indian customer deposits in Switzerland since 2013, though BIS data is the right way to measure actual deposits from India in Switzerland.

Goyal said India has also signed an agreement with Switzerland on December 21, 2017. Both countries have started collecting data in accordance with global standards from January 1, 2018, and would start exchange of data from September 2019 on a yearly basis. This makes relevant information available in India which eliminates the threat of black money and action can be taken against any entity indulging in such activities, he said.

Earlier in the day, while answering questions on the Rajya Sabha, he said he discussed the issue with Swiss authorities, who told him in a written reply that media reports “have not taken account of the way the (SNB) figures have to be interpreted“. Last month, based on SNB data, it was reported that the money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose to CHF1.01 billion (₹7,000 crore) in 2017 after falling for three consecutive years. “The Swiss authorities say that the figures published by the Swiss National Bank are regularly mentioned by the Indian media as a reliable indicator of the amount of assets held with Swiss financial institutions in respect of Indian citizens. They clarify how this is wrong. They say more often than not, the media reports have not taken into account the way the figures have to be interpreted which has resulted in misleading headlines and analysis. This is the (Swiss) government’s response,” he said.

Later, talking to reporters, Goyal attacked Congress President Rahul Gandhi for maligning the country’s image by raising the issue of increase in black money deposits of Indians in Swiss banks based on baseless reports. “I think Rahul Gandhi should reply to the nation why he is maligning the image of the country on the baseless report,” he said.