BEA backs whitening of money only in productive sectors
Thursday, 20 May 2010
FE Report
The scope of whitening undisclosed money should not be allowed in the upcoming national budget on the economic and moral grounds, a forum of local economists said Wednesday.
"We're against whitening undisclosed money. Still it can be allowed only in productive sectors like industries and agriculture," said Mr Abul Barakat, President of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), speaking at a pre-budget press conference in its city office.
The BEA, however, urged the government to amend the Public Procurement Act (PPA) and the Public Procurement Regulations (PPR) to make purchases easier and more transparent.
"Our Annual Development Programme (ADP) implementation is too slow. The main reason is the country's existing PPA and PPR," Mr Abul Barakat added.
The BEA said the cost of business is rising in the country mainly due to power shortage.
It urged the government to take effective measures in the upcoming budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year to reduce the cost of doing business.
"Gas and power crises as well as other procedural delays are the main reasons behind the rising cost of doing business," Mr Barakat added.
Expressing concern over the mounting inflationary pressure, the BEA told the reporters the government and the Bangladesh Bank should take appropriate measures to rein in prices.
The government and the central bank should carefully evaluate the trade-off between expansionary fiscal policy and increase in interest rate to contain the inflation, BEA General Secretary Dr Toufic Ahmed Chowdhury said.
Quoting from the budget speech of 2009-10, the BEA said: "We want specific anti-graft steps in the next budget."
The association, however, favoured increasing of supplementary and regulatory duties to protect the country's nascent industries.
The BEA said the next budget should also propose measures to reduce regional disparity.
The BEA, however, said the government can think of making mandatory the requirement of obtaining TIN (Taxpayer's Identification Number) certificate for opening a beneficiary owner's account before investing in the capital market.
"We also want to know the experiences about public-private partnership in the 2009-10 fiscal," Mr Barkat said.
The scope of whitening undisclosed money should not be allowed in the upcoming national budget on the economic and moral grounds, a forum of local economists said Wednesday.
"We're against whitening undisclosed money. Still it can be allowed only in productive sectors like industries and agriculture," said Mr Abul Barakat, President of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), speaking at a pre-budget press conference in its city office.
The BEA, however, urged the government to amend the Public Procurement Act (PPA) and the Public Procurement Regulations (PPR) to make purchases easier and more transparent.
"Our Annual Development Programme (ADP) implementation is too slow. The main reason is the country's existing PPA and PPR," Mr Abul Barakat added.
The BEA said the cost of business is rising in the country mainly due to power shortage.
It urged the government to take effective measures in the upcoming budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year to reduce the cost of doing business.
"Gas and power crises as well as other procedural delays are the main reasons behind the rising cost of doing business," Mr Barakat added.
Expressing concern over the mounting inflationary pressure, the BEA told the reporters the government and the Bangladesh Bank should take appropriate measures to rein in prices.
The government and the central bank should carefully evaluate the trade-off between expansionary fiscal policy and increase in interest rate to contain the inflation, BEA General Secretary Dr Toufic Ahmed Chowdhury said.
Quoting from the budget speech of 2009-10, the BEA said: "We want specific anti-graft steps in the next budget."
The association, however, favoured increasing of supplementary and regulatory duties to protect the country's nascent industries.
The BEA said the next budget should also propose measures to reduce regional disparity.
The BEA, however, said the government can think of making mandatory the requirement of obtaining TIN (Taxpayer's Identification Number) certificate for opening a beneficiary owner's account before investing in the capital market.
"We also want to know the experiences about public-private partnership in the 2009-10 fiscal," Mr Barkat said.