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The role of foreign money

in the British economy

London remains in focus for being the tax haven for overseas billionaires who have been parking their
money in the UK by investing in property, hotel business and other activities, reports dr anil singh

he United Kingdom has been gauged by normal GDP, ninth largest and pharmaceutical industries playing
hogging headlines in the in- measured by purchase power parity pivotal role in the British economy, the
ternational and Indian media (PPP), and 22nd largest by GDP per cap- UK also enjoys the unique status of being
on different counts from time ita, accounting for 3.3 per cent of global home to be the headquarters of 26 of the
T to time and in recent days GDP. Exports, service sector, and industry world’s 500 largest companies.
London stole the limelight in the wake constitute the main drivers of its econo- Reports appearing in the British me-
of general elections and the resounding my. The UK comprising England, Scot- dia from time, citing the figures of Na-
victory of the Conservatives led by Boris land, Wales, and Northern Ireland, is one tional Crime Agency (NCA), suggest that
Johnson and in the coming weeks, espe- of the globalized economies, which is the many hundreds of billions of dollars of
cially during the closing part of January tenth largest goods exporter and the fifth international money is rinsed through
2020, the British moves on the Brexit are largest goods importer in the world. British banks annually. Many of the
prone to hog media headlines as well. According to broad estimates, ser- cross-border corruption cases taking
Nevertheless, London has also re- vice sector contributes nearly 80 per place in recent years are said either to
mained in focus of the media for being cent of the GDP and financial services have connection to Britain or its over-
the tax haven for overseas billionaires industry has catapulted London at the seas territories. British limited-liability
who have been parking their money in enviable position to be the second larg- partnerships are often used as instru-
the UK by investing in property, hotel est global financial hub. With aerospace ment to channelize suspicious money
business and other activities. The strange transactions that sometimes amount to
cases of Vijay Malaya and Nirav Modi, hundreds of billions of dollars. Undoubt-
who fled India last year and are alleged According to estimates, edly, in the aftermath of the 2008 global
to have duped India’s banks of money gross illicit assets worth financial crisis bail-out and austerity
amounting to thousands of crores of ru- measures had affected British economy
pees and have been facing extradition US$462 billion had been that led to leniency in tackling dirty capi-
proceedings in London courts, is just tip tal flows; nevertheless, concurrently a
of the iceberg of the role of foreign mon- parked abroad by some section in the political and economic
ey in the British economy. of the Indians migrating circles still argues that stringent clean-
British finance but may also make the UK
The British economy abroad and presently up measures could harm not only the
The British economy, a highly developed that number might have losing its lustre because of Brexit.
and market-oriented economy, ranks as Some financial experts in the British
the sixth largest economy in the world grown further capital, while referring to international

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