New Delhi: Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that an agreement between India and Switzerland will provide them with all data on black money by the end of the next accounting year.
“All the data will be made available to us from February 1, 2018, to the end of this accounting year. So, why to assume this is black money or illegal transactions?” said Goyal on reports that money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose by 50 per cent in 2017.
A report by a central European nation released data that showed money parked by Indians rose over 50 per cent to 1.01 billion Swiss francs (Rs. 7,000 crores) in 2017.
Goyal further mentioned a report which said 40 per cent of the total amount was deposited under Liberalised Remittance Scheme started by former finance minister P. Chidambaram.
“I don’t know why they allowed any individual, including NRIs, to liberally remit $2.5 lakh outside the country,” said Goyal
Adding to this, he said that strict action will be taken against anyone who is found guilty once the information is out.
Reacting to the devaluation of the Indian Rupee, Goyal said decisions will be taken keeping the international situation in mind.
“Whatever action we will take, it will be taken keeping the international situation in mind, knee-jerk reactions are not called for,” said Goyal.
He also said that the recent announcements regarding the oil prices have led to America increasing interest rates, but he has faith in the Reserve Bank of India and the central government.
Making a comparison between rates of today and what had existed in 2013, he said the value of Rupee hasn’t depreciated in the past five years.
“Rupee was in a worse state in 2013, under FDNR(B) scheme introduced by Raghuram Rajan, India borrowed $ 32 billion which we have fully returned. The rupee hasn’t depreciated in the past five years.”
In 2013, the then RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan introduced the Foreign Currency Non-Repatriable scheme in a swap arrangement to stabilise the currency.
Goyal further said that macroeconomic indicators are very strong in all aspects.
“The foreign exchange reserves have increased from $304 billion in 2013-14 to $425 in 2017-18. The current account deficits have come down to 1.9 per cent in 2017-18 from 4.8 per cent in 2013-14. And, fiscal deficit has reduced to 3.5 per cent in 2017-18 from 4.5 per cent in 2016-17.”
The Indian Rupee (INR) on Thursday plunged at a low of 68.89 per dollar.
ANI