Finance Minister AMA Muhith Monday strongly criticised former World Bank (WB) president Robert Zoellick for, what he said, hatching a conspiracy over Padma Bridge project.
He said the conspiracy left him and other key figures of the government, including the Prime Minister, in a 'great crisis'.
He termed Zoellick a 'very bad man' and 'good-for-nothing', saying the chief of one of the Bretton Wood institutions on the last day of his office cancelled the Padma Bridge loan amid allegation of corruption conspiracy, which was wrong and incorrect.
"The WB did not mention any exchange of money … no transfer, but they cancelled it without even approval of its board. It did it on ground that we're making a plot to appoint a consultant for the project," he said.
He was speaking as the chief guest at an award-giving ceremony, arranged by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) at its headquarters in the city.
Former communication minister Syed Abul Hossain, economic affairs adviser to the Prime Minister Dr. Mashiur Rahman and NBR Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, who was then the bridges division's secretary, were also present at the function.
Mentioning various challenges the government went through for building the mega project, the finance minister expressed his firm optimism about opening the bridge for traffic by June next year.
Though the current communication minister has planned to open it by upcoming December, it would take few more months as many spans have not been installed yet, he said.
While awarding former communication minister Syed Abul Hossain, who was then at the centre of the allegation of corruption conspiracy, as the highest taxpayer in Dhaka city, the minister said the allegation left him and four others, including the current revenue board chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan in a 'great crisis'.
Mr. Abul Hossain and his family members were also awarded as the highest taxpaying family in Dhaka division.
Ten local companies were also awarded for paying highest tax during the just-concluded month-long DITF (Dhaka International Trade Fair).
Mentioning various contributions of the Washington-based global lender to the country's development, the 85-year old minister said the government did many things to satisfy the lending agency-Mr. Abul Hossain had to resign, Dr. (Mashiur) Rahman gave up as adviser while Mr. Mosharraf (Hossain Bhuiyan) left the job and faced imprisonment.
"I feel very happy that the nation awards and compliments them for their contributions," he said, holding hands of Mr Abul Hossain, who sat on the left of the minister and Dr. Mashiur Rahman, who was on the right.
After the new president's taking charge of the WB more than a year of the allegation, he withdrew the decision of cancelling the loan, but wanted to initiate a feasibility study again as the allegation already took away nearly two years.
"Then, the government decided not to take the WB financing and to build the bridge at our own expenses," he added.
Talking about the tax-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio, the finance minister said that it is still very low at less than 11 per cent and probably one of the lowest in the world.
"There are very few countries having the tax-GDP ratio less than 15 per cent. So, we've to take more initiatives to this effect. We managed to increase the number of taxpayers to 3.3 million from 1.4 million in only two years," he said.
About the proposed VAT law, he said the Prime Minister suspended implementation of the law for two years, considering pains of the business. "We're working hard to make it customer-friendly."
The top-10 taxpaying business entities in the DITF were Walton Hi-Tech Industries, Rangs Electronics, Hatil Complex, CP Bangladesh Company, RFL Plastics, Butterfly Marketing, Durable Plastic, Akhtar Mattress Industries, Rangpur Metal Industries and Agricultural Marketing Company.
NBR chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the country has many business tycoons, but Mr. Hossain became the highest taxpayer in the capital city, which reflected the apathy of the businesspeople towards payment of taxes.
"But we've to increase our internal resource to meet the government's development goals and become a developed country by 2041," he added.
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