Govt to form task force to recover money taken abroad illegally

The interim government will form a task force to recover money illegally taken out of Bangladesh, said Finance and Commerce Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed yesterday. 
He made the comment while speaking to journalists after a meeting with a delegation of buying houses at his Bangladesh Secretariat office.
Earlier, Bangladesh Bank and other related authorities had informed of planning to take initiatives to bring back such money.
“We are speaking to the World Bank, the United States and the United Kingdom to bring back laundered money,” Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur said in a recent interview with The Daily Star.
Money from Bangladesh had also been illegally taken to Dubai and Singapore, he added.
When asked whether reforms have started to materialise since he took office, Salehuddin said, “Of course, there have been visible changes as many things are evident.
“Action has been taken against default loans, banks with issues are being reorganised, and the liquidity problem was addressed by the (central bank) governor,” he said.
Following Mansur’s appointment as governor on August 14, Bangladesh Bank reconstituted the boards of a number of banks.
They include Islami Bank Bangladesh, Social Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, National Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Al Arafah Islami Bank, United Commercial Bank, Exim Bank and IFIC Bank.
Most of these lenders were controlled by S Alam Group, a Chattogram-based conglomerate.
Regarding trade and commerce, Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said, “We have reduced the duty on potatoes and onions, and instructions have been given to ensure their supply.”
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) in a statement yesterday announced that it had reduced duties on the import of onions and potatoes to boost supply and curb rising prices of these essential items.
The tariff on onion import was reduced to 5 percent and on potato import to 15 percent. It will remain in effect till November 30.
“The NBR expects that the prices of both items will reach more tolerable levels following the reduction in import duties,” said the revenue authority.
Dr Salehuddin Ahmed also informed that monitoring of kitchen markets, supply chains and prices would be strengthened.
On whether the interim government has been able to reduce the prices of goods, the finance adviser said, “No, the price of goods is not decreasing due to many reasons. The price has increased, it cannot be dragged down quickly.”
He, however, assured that the prices would come down within a few months. Even if the prices of imported goods increase, the interim government will devise a way to ensure that consumers remain unaffected, he said.