Findings of studies on black money to be made public

The findings of three studies on the quantum of black money in India as well as that stashed abroad may soon be made public.

The decision was taken on Thursday at a meeting of parliamentary committee on finance, headed by M. Veerappa Moily of the Congress, sources said.

The government had given these reports to the committee Chairman Moily in July 2017 but marked them "confidential" and barred him from making them public or even sharing with members.

Now it has been decided that the reports would be shared with the committee members, a source privy to the development said. It could later be made public, they added.

The Manmohan Singh government commissioned these studies to the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, the National Council of Applied Economic Research, and the National Institute of Finance Management to assess the quantum of black money held by Indians in as well as outside India.

These reports were submitted between December 2013 and August 2014.

According to sources, there is much variation in the findings of these reports and it is difficult to ascertain the exact amount of black money.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had used black money as one of his poll planks in the 2014 Lok Sabha campaign and promised to bring back the black money stashed in Swiss banks and tax havens across the world.

The committee also discussed the impact of demonetisation on the economy.

"The government still claims demonetisation has been good for economy. The committee's views would be put in the report," a member told IANS.

--IANS

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