ACCORDING to international media, the money belonging to Pakistanis in Swiss banks far exceeds that of Indians’ (excluding dormant accounts of about $300 million). It is speculated that Pakistan could retire its entire debt (and even build some dams) if this money is repatriated.

During 2013 to 2016, then finance minister Ishaq Dar held negotiations with the Swiss regarding hidden bank accounts, double taxation and granting Switzerland the most-favoured-nation status. It is eerie that the upshot of the negotiations was that only accounts from January 2018 onwards could be investigated. In India, several companies now store their wealth as cash or bullion for fear of getting caught.

Recently, India’s income tax department in Tamil Nadu recovered Rs 1bn and 90kg bullion in raids on 22 subsidiaries of a construction firm. Pakistan should follow the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s regulations to bring back black money.

Deborah John Xanthippe
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2018