New estimates released by senior economists from the Bank of Italy reveal that somewhere between six and seven trillion dollars worth of black money currently lies hidden in tax haven across the globe, where Indians' share holds an estimated $152-181 billion.
The estimates follow the train of different similar estimates conducted in recent years. Gabriel Zucman of London School of Economics estimated it at $7.6 trillion. Boston Consulting Group at $8.9 trillion, and Tax Justice Network at $21 trillion. All of this wealth is held in tax havens; jurisdictions with weak regulations and strong secrecy laws that help shell companies conceal their original identities. The Italian economists also analysed data from IMF and the Bank of International Settlements to conclude at the data. There were two ways of estimating Indian share. One is to assume that the Indian share in this global hidden wealth was simply the same as India's share in global GDP, i.e., about 2.5 per cent in 2013. By this parameter, Indian share of hidden wealth is $152-181 billion.
The second way of finding Indian share of undeclared assets is to look at the Indian share in actual declared portfolio assets, about 0.07 per cent of the total, and assume that the same is valid for hidden assets. This makes out Indian share for black assets at $4-5 billion. Economists Pellegrini, Sanelli, and Tosti said the figures for India are just indicative and they “have to be considered with great care and in no way can represent firm data.”
