Home ›› 16 Jun 2022 ›› Front
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday said he would not retreat halfway from the decision to allow bringing back laundered money in the proposed budget for FY23.
“I am not under any pressure. I will do what I say. You know me,” he told journalists after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase.
He said many criticised him when he had offered incentives for remitters.
“They said money would not flow in and nothing would happen. They also said money would be laundered. But money has finally flown in, and remittances have reached records,” said Kamal.
Similarly, money that had been laundered would come back, he added.
The minister said the government was paying attention to this facility, hoping when laundered money would return, a portion of it would be invested in the capital market as well as various industries and businesses. Responding to criticism from various quarters about the matter, Kamal said it would be objective if critics talked in line with reality.
On Sunday, lawmakers of both the ruling and opposition parties criticised the minister for allowing bringing back laundered money by paying a 7 per cent tax in the FY23 proposed budget. Economists also came down heavily on him.
In response to another question from reporters on Wednesday, he said the actual land prices in the capital’s Gulshan area were higher than the amount paid for registration.
He said it was not possible to register land at higher prices as the amount had been fixed for each mouza. “So, black money is being created there. Who is out of the scope of black money?”
Kamal further said the actual prices of flats being registered by paying Tk 2 crore were Tk 10 crore.
“That is why the government is being deprived of additional registration fees. This is where black money is being created. Everyone has to understand this.”
He said only the person owning a piece of land in Dhaka city or the one who bought it could reveal the registration fee and also the actual market price of the property. He blamed the government and the existing system for this.
Asked whether fuel prices would be hiked again, the minister said it was not finalised yet. “People will be informed whenever the decision is made.”
He said the government always tries to bear the load when any product price goes up in the international market. “But when costs go up excessively, the government shares the load with the people.” Kamal said the instructions about the stock market in the FY23 budget would be implemented but that had not started yet.
He also said he thinks the economy is doing very well. “We are in a very good position on every index globally. The ups and downs of the capital market are a normal matter. But we want it to do well,” he said.
