Staff Correspondent

Independent MP AK Azad from Faridpur-3 on Sunday demanded the list of loan defaulters be published in Parliament. He said that these loan defaulters looted the bank's money and laundered it abroad.

He said this while participating in the general discussion on the proposed budget for the 2024-25 fiscal.

AK Azad said, according to Bangladesh Bank, the amount of defaulted loans is around Tk 1.82 lakh crores. Actually, the amount of defaulted loans is Tk 5 lakh crores.

“Everyone knows who took this money. I have requested the finance minister to reveal their names in Parliament for the sake of transparency and accountability. They are the ones who looted the bank's money and laundered it abroad.”

This independent MP said that it would be unfair if they (money launderers) are allowed to bring back the money now with paying 15 percent tax.

Opposing the proposal to whitening black money, AK Azad said, Awami League has declared zero tolerance against corruption in its election manifesto.

“It is not understandable how the sovereign parliament can legalize the laundering of black money,” he said.

Azad also questioned why the source of black money cannot be questioned.

AK Azad said that under the strong leadership of the Prime Minister, Bangladesh is on the verge of being promoted from an underdeveloped country to a middle-income country, which will be effective from 2026.

In this year's budget, the operational expenditure has been estimated at Tk 5 lakh 6 thousand 971 crores. Out of this, 22.1 percent of the expenditure budget will be spent on the public administration sector, which is Tk 2 lakh 97 thousand 388 crores.

However, the development cost has been estimated at Tk 2 lakh 81 thousand 453 crores. If a ministry is given 22 percent of the budget, it is becoming heavier-headed than the body.

AK Azad proposed to form an administrative committee to examine whether so many ministries and departments are needed or not.

He said that a few days ago it came out in the newspaper that vehicles are being bought for AC and UNO at the cost of thousands of crores of taka. But in neighboring India, ministers travel in their personal cars.

AK Azad, a businessman before he entered parliament, said that the country's investment environment is becoming difficult day by day. Entrepreneurs are plagued with various problems including interest rate on loans, inadequacy of electricity and fuel, increase in transport costs. On the other hand, several states of neighbouring countries of India give various incentives to attract investment.