Bangladesh Bank fears that illegal money may enter the country during the time of parliamentary elections. The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has already given special letters in this regard to the banks. The letter asks the banks to remain vigilant in opening import and export related letters of credit.
BFIU head Abu Hena Md Razi Hassan told Bangla Tribune, “There’s always risk of the usage of illegal money during election and we have asked the banks to remain alert.”
On Dec 17, the letter was sent to the banks which also asked for vigilance to ensure that a bank is not used for financing terrorists.
Since transactions have risen with election in view, special monitoring is needed to keep track of risky financial dealings online.
Former Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed told Bangla Tribune, “There is a discrepancy between capital machinery import and investment which means that in the name of capital machinery, money is being siphoned off.”
According to central bank’s information, in 2017-19, import was $54.46 billion with import of machinery at $14.56 billion or Tk 220 billion, which is 25 percent of import. This is 33 percent more than the previous fiscal year.
Executive Director of Policy Research Institute, PRI’s Dr Ahsan Mansur told Bangla Tribune, “A large amount is laundered behind import of machinery since this sort of import has minimum tax.”
During election, uncertainty is created which drives many to send money out of the country.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), shows that a large amount of money if being sent out of the country through international trade.
It’s believed that in many cases, false papers are shown to carry out this activity.