Whitening black money provision should be reviewed: Momen

Former Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen (Sylhet-1) on Thursday told Parliament that the regularl taxpayers have become disappointed with the budgetary provision for whitening 'black money', reports UNB.
"Honest taxpayers have become frustrated due to the announcement in the budget for whitening 'black money' with payment of 15 per cent tax. I definitely feel that it needs to review the scope for whitening black money," he said.
The ruling party lawmaker made this remark joining the general discussion on the proposed national budget for 2024-2025 fiscal year in the House.
He said the matters of big concern among the common people are price-hike of commodities, generation of more employment, rise of revenue, corruption, extortion and harassment.
Noting that some 80pc foods were produced locally in the country, he said some 3.4 million tonnes of onions were produced locally but the local demand is only 2.8 million tonnes, according to the statistics of the government. "So, the onion production is 0.6 million tonnes surplus against the demand," said Momen.
He said the same picture is seen in the case of potatoes. The local production is 10.4 million tonnes, which is 2.5 million tonnes more than the demand.
"If so, why do the prices of these items go high? There is inaccuracy in our statistics," he said.