Proposal to bring back laundered money is recognition of offence: Speakers

Economists and experts at a programme have said that the proposal to bring back the laundered money by paying a nominal tax in the national budget instead of enforcement of the money laundering act is nothing but condoning and recognising the offences. 

Earlier, it was observed that the process of whitening the black money was not effective either, they said at a shadow parliament programme on Saturday organised by Debate for Democracy at the FDC in Dhaka. 
They suggested revisiting the proposal and establishing good governance to strengthen the economic foundation that has long been prevailing in the country. They also suggested not to increase the price of electricity for one year to recover from the impact of Covid.

The proposal to bring back the laundered money by paying only 7% tax means the government is protecting the interest of the money launderers, speakers told the programme. 

"In the present context, it was a good decision that the government has retracted from its previous move to take credit from foreign sources to reduce pressure on dollars and has opted for the local banks to meet the budget deficit," Economist Naznin Ahmed said.

Debate for Democracy Chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran said that the main challenge in the implementation of the national budget is corruption. It is also unacceptable to increase the project cost by extending the project tenure.   

They also suggested being cautious in undertaking any huge project that can contribute to becoming like Sri Lanka.    

But the Padma Bridge will, however, contribute to the national GDP growth, they added.