Lenience to money launderers neither ethical nor logical: CPD

 
With the provision to repatriate laundered money in order to increase foreign exchange, money laundering may increase further, said Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in its reaction to the FY23 budget proposal placed at the parliament on Thursday.

CPD stated that lenience to money launderers is neither ethical nor logical. CPD Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun said that those who have earned money illegally by taking bank loans, and through corruption, are being given facilities. "This is extremely unethical. This is an attempt to discourage honest taxpayers and demoralize them", she said while speaking at a review program on the national budget at a hotel in the capital on Friday (10 June).

On the other hand, this initiative encourages those who take money out of the country illegally, she added. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday (9 June) said in a budget proposal for the new fiscal year that the money would be legalized with a 7%tax.

However, no money will be returned from abroad even after this initiative, said the research institute CPD. Towfiqul Islam Khan, senior research fellow at CPD said this budget facilitates those who laundered money abroad, but there was nothing for the low income population of the country.

"So, if the tax management is not automated or modernized with the help of skilled manpower temporary measures can increase revenue but it will not be able to achieve the target of bringing the greater population under taxation", said Dr Fahmida Khatun.

Also, CPD had previously suggested reducing tax on 29 daily commodities which were burdening the common people.

So, the organization lauded the government for reducing taxes on items like sugar, rice, puffed rice, wheat, sugarcane, and more, and termed it as a positive step.

The finance minister placed the Tk6,78,064 crore national budget for FY23 at Jatiya Sangsad according top priority to safeguarding marginal people from inflation fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine War.

This is the fourth budget of the third consecutive term of the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and also the overall 51st budget of the country.

The proposed budget is Tk74,383 crore higher than the original budget size of the FY2021-22 fiscal year, which was Tk6,03,681 crore.