No official data on circulating black money, Arun Jaitley tells Lok Sabha

The government has no official estimate of black money in circulation in India or overseas, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

He, however, reiterated the government's stand that a lot was being done to eliminate and forfeit the unaccounted wealth. Jaitley also dismissed as "exaggerated" the suggestion that India's growth rate has plummeted to an all-time low, claiming that for the last three consecutive years, the country had remained the fastest growing economy in the world.

Jaitley was replying to TMC MP Saugata Roy, who said the country's growth rate had slipped to an all-time low of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2017-18 and had shown only a small rise in the second quarter.

"The honourable member's phraseology, with utmost respect to him, is somewhat exaggerated. Our economy, for three years in a row, is the world's fastest growing economy," Jaitley said during Question Hour.

The minister said there was no demonetisation effect as there was currency available to make purchases. "In the first quarter, the services sector rose by 8.7 per cent, which meant people were making purchases," he said.