Bangladesh Bank has given letters to commercial banks to prevent money laundering in the name of import. The letter states that in the name import, a certain group is taking money out of the country and therefore, all LC’s must be assessed beforehand.
The letter further states that foreign currency market is unstable for a long period due to the rising demand of the Dollar and this has been created due to massive import.

An MD of a private banks says: “we have been maintaining caution in opening LCs from the time when banks had Dollar crisis.”

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, BFIU, has asked for attention on income coming from ‘risky’ nations.

There’s always the risk of illegal money being used in national elections, said BFIU head Abu Hena Md. Raji Hasan.

The letter clearly states the necessity to keep an eye to prevent the abuse of any banks by militants.

Former Bangladesh Bank governor, Salehuddin Ahmed, says: “there is a discrepancy between the import of capital machineries and investment, which shows that money is being sent out in the name of machinery import.”

Reportedly, information has emerged about skullduggery by 19 banks to destabilize the currency market. These banks sold Dollar at a higher rate than the one fixed by the central bank and concealed the information.

In the open market, Dollar is being sold at Tk. 85.

According to Bangladesh Bank information, all throughout 2018, import of machinery saw a sharp rise though no new industry has come into existence.

In 2017-18, import was Tk. 5446 crore, with machinery worth Tk. 1456 crore, which is 33 per cent more than the previous year.

Executive director of the non-government research institute, Policy Research Institute, PRI, Dr. Ahsan H Mansur, told Bangla Tribune: “during elections, a sense of insecurity takes form which triggers money laundering.”