India’s New ‘Electoral Bonds’ Aim to Clean Up Campaign Financing
- Bonds would allow anonymous, digital donations to parties
- Reforms do not go far enough and are open to abuse: analysts
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Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has proposed the creation of new "electoral bonds" to clean up election financing in the world’s most populous democracy.
Although called a bond, it may not imply an interest-paying debt instrument. They are likely to resemble promissory notes backed by the nation’s central bank, with lenders remaining the custodian of the donor’s funds until the political parties are paid, said a person familiar with the matter, who asked not be identified because the details aren’t public.