Whitening 'black' money
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Mahmud ur Rahman Choudhury
THE FBCCI on March 23 in a pre-budget meeting of the business body suggested that the government and the State ought to turn a blind eye to "black" money and permit by some means for its "whitening" so as to increase the state's revenue earning as well as to get the wheels of the economy rolling at a faster pace. This is not the first time that Mr. Annisul Haq, the president FBCCI, has come up with such ideas which not only defy all economic and political logic but also all norms of law, justice and morality.
If one remembers rightly, Mr. Annisul Haq is one of those persons who enthusiastically supported the Emergency regime and he and others like him helped form the Bangladesh Better Business Forum with the self-same aims and intentions of not only ensuring that looters and robbers of public and private wealth get away scott-free from their crimes but are also rehabilitated into the economy, society and politics with full honours and regards.
What Mr. Annisul Haq and his FBCCI friends fail to understand is that the economy of Bangladesh consists of agriculture, the government's Annual Development Programmes (ADP) and the millions of expatriate workers, with a lion's share of the state's revenues coming from the myriad of economic activities generated by these sectors. Whitening "black" money, coming from sources starting with extortion and extending to smuggling, racketeering, hoarding and looting of public wealth, is not going to benefit the national economy or the 150 million people of this nation; its going to rehabilitate the few criminals involved in "black" money earning.
The chairman NBR has claimed that undisclosed and untaxed money amounts to half of the national GDP. Well, the chairman NBR was being conservative because the "black" underground economy is almost double the size of the national economy and all this is being encouraged time and again by government measures to make it easy to earn "black" money and then to legalise it, thereby allowing the national economy to be taken hostage by criminal predators. Thus, instead of taking steps to dismantle the "black" underground economy, the government is becoming a party to looting of the State.
One can understand the desperation of the AL government buffeted as it is by the global recession and internal political and social instabilities. But that desperation must not lead it to measures which will undercut the very foundation of our nation-state. The AL must not forget that states, including our own, have ethical and moral dimensions and that the AL had promised in its election manifesto to "envision a democratic system where people choose their government freely and get services from it without hassle, enjoy freedom from fear and intolerance, live with dignity; where every citizen is assured of social justice, human rights and equal opportunities and where the rule of law and good governance flourish. We envision a liberal, progressive and democratic welfare state." (Our promise, work program and declaration - AL Election Manifesto 2008, page 6). Whitening "black" money not only does not go anywhere near this expressed vision but also violates every norm of morality, ethics, good government, governance and politics. The steps and measures of whitening "black" money will lead to further weakening of all the core institutions of our State, already on the verge of near collapse.
The author is the Editor of The Bangladesh Today. He may be reached at:
editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
THE FBCCI on March 23 in a pre-budget meeting of the business body suggested that the government and the State ought to turn a blind eye to "black" money and permit by some means for its "whitening" so as to increase the state's revenue earning as well as to get the wheels of the economy rolling at a faster pace. This is not the first time that Mr. Annisul Haq, the president FBCCI, has come up with such ideas which not only defy all economic and political logic but also all norms of law, justice and morality.
If one remembers rightly, Mr. Annisul Haq is one of those persons who enthusiastically supported the Emergency regime and he and others like him helped form the Bangladesh Better Business Forum with the self-same aims and intentions of not only ensuring that looters and robbers of public and private wealth get away scott-free from their crimes but are also rehabilitated into the economy, society and politics with full honours and regards.
What Mr. Annisul Haq and his FBCCI friends fail to understand is that the economy of Bangladesh consists of agriculture, the government's Annual Development Programmes (ADP) and the millions of expatriate workers, with a lion's share of the state's revenues coming from the myriad of economic activities generated by these sectors. Whitening "black" money, coming from sources starting with extortion and extending to smuggling, racketeering, hoarding and looting of public wealth, is not going to benefit the national economy or the 150 million people of this nation; its going to rehabilitate the few criminals involved in "black" money earning.
The chairman NBR has claimed that undisclosed and untaxed money amounts to half of the national GDP. Well, the chairman NBR was being conservative because the "black" underground economy is almost double the size of the national economy and all this is being encouraged time and again by government measures to make it easy to earn "black" money and then to legalise it, thereby allowing the national economy to be taken hostage by criminal predators. Thus, instead of taking steps to dismantle the "black" underground economy, the government is becoming a party to looting of the State.
One can understand the desperation of the AL government buffeted as it is by the global recession and internal political and social instabilities. But that desperation must not lead it to measures which will undercut the very foundation of our nation-state. The AL must not forget that states, including our own, have ethical and moral dimensions and that the AL had promised in its election manifesto to "envision a democratic system where people choose their government freely and get services from it without hassle, enjoy freedom from fear and intolerance, live with dignity; where every citizen is assured of social justice, human rights and equal opportunities and where the rule of law and good governance flourish. We envision a liberal, progressive and democratic welfare state." (Our promise, work program and declaration - AL Election Manifesto 2008, page 6). Whitening "black" money not only does not go anywhere near this expressed vision but also violates every norm of morality, ethics, good government, governance and politics. The steps and measures of whitening "black" money will lead to further weakening of all the core institutions of our State, already on the verge of near collapse.
The author is the Editor of The Bangladesh Today. He may be reached at:
editor@thebangladeshtoday.com