Safe haven accounts: Pakistan got more money in Swiss banks than India: report
Pakistanis had 1.44b Swiss francs while Indians had 1.42b stashed at end of 2012.
Swiss National Bank. PHOTO: AFP
When it comes to money in Swiss banks, Pakistan has a slight edge over India with total funds amounting to 1.44 billion Swiss francs held there by Pakistani individuals and entities, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
In their local currency, the total funds held by individuals and entities from Pakistan in Swiss banks stood at 152.9 billion Pakistani rupees as on December 31, 2012, PTI said quoting Swiss National Bank (SNB) data.
However, this was the lowest level for such funds ever since Switzerland’s central bank began compiling this data in 2002 and was less than half of the record high amount of over 3 billion Swiss francs (Rs318.54 billion) recorded in 2005, the previous record low of 1.95 billion Swiss francs was seen in the year 2010.
This marked a decline of nearly 32% from 2.1 billion Swiss francs (about Rs222.98 billion) at the end of 2011, as per the latest annual report of Swiss central bank on banks operating in the country.
The issue of alleged stashing of black money in Swiss banks has been a matter of intense debate in Pakistan, as there have been reports of some top former government leaders having kept their money in banks in the European country due to their hugely popular ‘safe-haven’ status.
However, a higher amount than Indian entities assumes significance because Pakistan is a much smaller country in terms of population and area.
Still, the quantum of money held by Swiss banks for their Pakistani clients was about 1.5% higher than the equivalent figure for Indians at 1.42 billion Swiss francs (about 89.9 billion Indian rupees or 150.3 billion Pakistani rupees) at the end of 2012, the SNB data said according to PTI.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2013.