Money in Swiss banks: Bangladesh ranks 89th, UK on top
Bangladesh ranked 89th among 282 countries in terms of money parked by its citizens with Swiss banks, while the UK remains on the top, reports PTI.
Bangladeshis deposited 667.5 million Swiss francs to the bank.
The total money held in Swiss banks by foreign clients from across the world, incidentally rose by a small margin from 1.41 trillion Swiss francs (CHF) to CHF 1.42 trillion during 2016.
In terms of individual countries, the UK accounted for the largest chunk at about CHF 359 (over 25 per cent) of the total foreign money with Swiss banks.
The US came second with nearly CHF 177 billion or about 14 per cent. No other country accounted for a double-digit percentage share, while others in the top-ten included West Indies, France, Bahamas, Germany, Guernsey, Jersey, Hong Kong and Luxembourg.
India is now ranked 88th with 676 million Swiss francs (about Rs 4,500 crore) -- a record low after falling for three consecutive years amid a continuing clampdown on the suspected black money stashed behind their famed secrecy walls.
Pakistan continued to remain placed higher than India at 71st place (although down from 69th in 2015) with about CHF 1.4 billion.
India was also the lowest ranked among the BRICS nations — Russia was ranked 19th (CHF 15.6 billion), China 25th (CHF 9.6 billion), Brazil 52nd (CHF 2.7 billion) and South Africa 61st (CHF 2.2 billion).
Among these five, only China has moved up.
Others ranked higher than India included Mauritius, Iran, Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Angola, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada and Mexico.
A number of offshore financial centres are also ranked higher including Cayman Islands, Panama, Cyprus, Marshall Islands, Bermuda, Seychelles, Isle of Man and Gibraltar.
Among other South-Asian nations, Nepal was 150th (CHF 312 million), Sri Lanka was 151st (CHF 307 million) and Bhutan was way below at 282nd (about half a million Swiss francs).
The total money belonging to the developed countries fell to CHF 824 billion, while those from developing nations actually rose marginally to CHF 208 million.
The money from developing economies in Asia-Pacific region rose to CHF 50 billion.
The funds parked in Swiss banks from offshore financial centres rose to CHF 389 billion.
India was ranked in top-50 continuously between 1996 and 2007, but started declining after that -- 55th in 2008, 59th in 2009 and 2010 each, 55th again in 2011, 71st in 2012 and then to 58th in 2013.
