State’s takeover of the accounts of Indians in banks abroad is a sure way of getting back the black money stashed outside the country, Janata Party president and noted economist Subramanian Swamy has said.
He was answering a question during a question-answer session after delivering a lecture on ‘FDI in Retail, Corruption and Black Money vis-a-vis Indian Economy’ organised by the Rajasthani Graduates Association at RG Kedia College here on Monday.
He said nationalisation of the accounts in foreign banks would make them national wealth and the money, with the help of UN, can be brought back to India. ‘’If a person proves that his account in the foreign bank is all genuine and legitimate, that account will be freed and the money could be given back to them,’’ he said.
On dismissal of his petition against Union home minister P Chidambaram, he said he would appeal for a review. ‘’Main usko Chodunga Nahi,’’ he said and revealed that there were 16 petitions pending against Chidambaram.
On Kejriwal’s charges against Robert Vadra, the Janta Party chief said had Kejriwal approached a court, Vadra could not have got a chance to cover his tracks.
On Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate, he said the publicity was a design of the Congress to create a rift in the BJP. No prime ministerial candidate had been announced prior to polls. ‘’I will be the first person to welcome if Modi’s name is announced,’’ he said.
In his lecture, Swamy said there were two types of financial flow from one country to another: FDI is long term and ‘hot money’ the short term. ‘’Foreign bank loans, investment in equities and bonds by foreign countries and people come under the definition of hot money. It should not be more than 10 percent in the country but has increased in the last seven to eight years to 40 percent. It is a worrying factor since it can destabilise the country’s economy,’’ he said and recalled the economic crisis in Japan in the late 70s and in Latin America.
He attributed the credit for the economic reforms of the 90s to former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao who, he said, was insulted by his own party in later years.
Saying that he was wary of the new economic changes, Swamy said, ‘’A US company would get loan at the rate of 2 percent form its bank in the US, invest it here, use the cheap labour and reap riches while an Indian company, which gets a loan at an interest rate of 12 to 18 percent, cannot compete with it.’’
He emphasised the need for Indians returning to their roots and respecting their culture and traditions instead of blindly following western thought.