Amid a furor over leaked 'Panama Papers' showing Indians with alleged offshore tax haven holdings, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today warned against a "dangerous" trend of questions being raised about the legitimacy of even the 'entrepreneurial wealth of self-made people'. RBI itself is part of the multi-agency group announced by the Indian government to monitor such holdings and take appropriate action.
Stating that the debate on illegitimacy of wealth has varied from crony capitalism and the illegal acts of bankers to that about passive and inherited wealth, Rajan said, "Now increasingly there is a talk about whether entrepreneurial wealth is illegitimate, whether self-made people should have what they have and whether that's something a fair game.
"I think this is dangerous. And the fact that there are occasions when people are found to be hiding their wealth as in the Panama allegations essentially contributes to this process of de-legitimisation," he added.
Speaking in Mumbai at an industry event, Rajan said there is a need for providing ample opportunities to people to sustain the legitimacy of wealth.