Bringing back money stashed in Swiss banks by Indians is not going to make any 'significant difference' to the overall economy, Prime Minister's economic advisory panel head Suresh Tendulkar said on Monday.
When asked what would have been his advise to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of bringing back money deposited by Indians in Swiss banks, Tendulkar said, "I have not given really any thought to that. That, I think is not, to my mind, going to make significant difference to the economy at large. That is just my own judgement and consequently I have not given much thought to it."
To a query if bringing back money deposited in foreign banks could help spurring up the slackening economy, Tendulkar said," Look people expect remittances to increase. . . FIIs are coming back. . . And foreign exchange reserves are quite comfortable so why are you worried about. . ."
The remarks by Tendulkar assumes importance in the wake of BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani's demand that the government make efforts to bring back money deposited by Indians in foreign banks.
Switzerland, the world's largest financial centre, had earlier agreed to accept concessions on bank secrecy in response to 'concrete and justified' requests.
