None whitened money despite amnesty

None had got undisclosed money legalised during the last one year despite budgetary amnesty, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said Friday, although studies claim huge unaccounted-for funds run informal economy in Bangladesh.

“In my budget speech last year I said if anyone brings back untaxed money from abroad, they won’t need to pay any tax. But, so far, no such money has come to Bangladesh,” he said speaking at a post-budget meet at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.

“So, in the new budget no provision is kept for legalising undeclared money,” said the finance minister, while defending all the fiscal measures laid down in the budget for the forthcoming fiscal year, 2023-24.

In the budget for outgoing financial year, the government introduced a scope to legalise the laundered money by paying 7.0-percent tax.

However, economists and experts back then had expressed doubt whether anyone would utilise the amnesty for fear of getting exposed as money launderer.

According to the Global Financial Integrity report 2020, more than US$7.5 billion is siphoned off from Bangladesh every year and maximum of it is done through trade misinvoicing, like over-invoicing and under-invoicing.

[email protected]