Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday said the amnesty offered in the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 on a repatriation of laundered money was logical and would help the economy.
He also said there were 17 countries in the world, including the US, UK, Germany, Norway, Malaysia, and Indonesia, which provided similar amnesties.
Also Read: Budget FY23 will make economy stronger, says Kamal
“We are assuming that the money, which belongs to the people, has been laundered. We want to retrieve that money, and hope that the launderers will return with that money,” he added.
The finance minister made the remarks during the annual post-budget press conference at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka.
He also urged that no obstacles be placed to the process of legalizing laundered money, as it might discourage those who had siphoned off the money abroad, and thus would prevent the government from ever getting it back.
Asked whether the launderers would receive protection upon their return, Abu Hena Rahmatul Munim, chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), said that they would be protected as per law.
Minister Kamal also said the identities of the launderers willing to repatriate the money would not be revealed, if needed, to retrieve the money.
In the budget proposed for FY23 on Thursday, the finance minister recommended that laundered money be legalized only by paying 7% tax.
However, many organizations and those involved in civil society have criticized the move.
The finance minister strongly opposed calling the siphoned money laundered, or black money, preferring to use the term "offshore money."
Perhaps those who laundered the money were unaware that it was a crime, or they were in some unfortunate situation, said the minister.
Responding to a question, Fazle Kabir, governor of Bangladesh Bank, said that the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit worked to prevent money laundering, but it did not have any proof that money that was laundered overseas, including to the Swiss Bank, had been sent from Bangladesh.
In this regard, Mustafa Kamal acknowledged that money was being laundered either by using suitcases or digital remittance tools.
Asked about the success of the legalizing process, he said that the authorities wanted to bring the money back to the mainstream economy and wanted to utilize this opportunity.
No disrespect to taxpayers
The initiative did not in any way imply respect for the country's taxpayers, said Mustafa Kamal.
He said that the people of the country were never cheated in the last three years, as the government had never given a budget that would overburden the poor.
He also said that the proposed budget was mainly for the marginalized people of the country.
"Every year, millions of new faces are added to the total population in the country. The Influx of Rohingya population has also added a million more. We are also feeding them," he said.
"The proposed budget will inspire everyone. Many of our products are currently priced higher, that is true. However, it is due to the Russia-Ukraine war, global inflation and the current international situation,” Kamal further said.
He also said that no country, rich or poor, had anything to do considering the situation.
“However, we have proposed the budget with priority for the common people of the country, including the poor. I understand the pain of being poor,” he added.
He also said that there would be many ups and downs in the upcoming fiscal year but, if the budget was implemented, the country's economy would be stronger than ever.
Responding to another question, the Finance Minister said that the budget measures would close any mismatch between demand and supply.
Moreover, if production increased, it would help to decrease the pressure of demands which controlled inflation.
Regarding subsidies, Mustafa Kamal said that the subsidy on food, fertilizer, gas, and electricity would continue to save villagers from the burden of inflation, adding that food aid would be provided to more than 25 million people along with VGF and other social safety nets.
He also said that the universal pension scheme was almost ready for execution.
Priority to products 'Made in Bangladesh'
The finance minister said he had accorded priority to locally produced products in the proposed budget for FY23.
He said it had been proposed that value added tax (VAT) be imposed on imported laptops and mobile phones.
“This is done to encourage local entrepreneurs. We want to increase demand for 'Made in Bangladesh' products,” he added.
Earlier, in the budget placed in parliament on Thursday, 15% VAT was imposed on the import of laptops, printers, cartridges, toners and portable data processing machines, while 5% VAT was imposed on mobile phone imports and 10% VAT on broadband internet services.
Agriculture Minister Md Abdur Razzaque, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni, and State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam were also present at the post-budget press conference.
Finance Minister Kamal placed the Tk6,78,064 crore national budget for FY23 at the Jatiya Sangsad, according top priority to safeguarding marginal people from inflation fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
This is the fourth budget of the third consecutive term of the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and also the 51st budget in the history of the country.
The FY23 budget is Tk74,383 crore higher than the original budget size of FY22, which was Tk603,681 crore.