Piyush Goyal says swiss bank deposits reduced by 34 per cent, attacks Rahul Gandhi for maligning country's image 

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal today 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.

Indian deposits in Swiss banks have actually come down by 34 per cent to USD 524 million dollar in 2017, Goyal said.

According to reports published earlier, the money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50 per cent to Rs 7,000 crore in 2017.

"I think Rahul Gandhi should reply to nation why he is maligning the image of the country on baseless report," he told reporters outside Parliament.

He accused Gandhi of saying baseless things without knowing the issue.

"Of course, he has habit of saying things without knowing the facts. Even during the no-confidence motion, we have seen claims of Congress being demolished," he said.

As per the data provided by Swiss authorities there has been 34 per cent reduction in deposits in Swiss Bank in 2017 as against 2016, he said.

In the last quarter (October-December) of 2017, there was a reduction of 44 per cent, based on locational banking statistics, Goyal added.

"This clearly reflects that people are afraid of government of India and Modi government. The government will take strict against the hoarders of black money," he said.

He further said that this government has taken a series of steps to put a curb on generation and siphoning of black money while Congress during the UPA regime had done nothing.

"India also signed an agreement with Switzerland on December 21, 2017. Both countries started collecting data in accordance with global standards on January 1, 2018, and would start the exchange of data from September 2019 on a yearly basis," he said.

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.