Global Info-Sharing Can Combat Black Money, Says Indian Finance Minister

PARIS (NNN-Bernama) -- India has asked member-countries to shed reluctance and start sharing banking information to combat the menace of black money, that is posing a serious challenge to the world economy, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

Speaking on the eve of G-20 Finance Ministers meet, he said: "For (fighting) black money and terror funding, information being an essential ingredient, is the most important tool to fight this menance.

"Information should be provided fast. Information should be given on demand and there should be no restrictions," Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted him as saying to reporters here.

Mukherjee also expressed his regret to some countries who tried to restrict flow of information by putting unnecessary clauses in tax treaties.

Citing an example, he said after the Pittsburgh declaration, many countries have extended their cooperation in sharing information related to banking.

However, such information should be made faster and should not only be restricted to prospective effect, he added.

During the past two years, more than 700 agreements have been signed as instruments on exchange of information between different countries.

Later, Mukherjee had a meeting with his French counterpart Francois Baroin, said that the automatic exchange of information is one of the most effective ways to improve voluntary tax compliance and decrease tax evasion.

The 2011 G-20 Cannes Summit will be the sixth meeting of the G-20 heads of government in a series of on-going discussions about financial markets and the world economy.

The G-20 is the premier forum for discussing, planning and monitoring international economic cooperation. -- NNN-BERNAMA