Punish people involved in bank plundering: FBCCI

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Saturday demanded exemplary punishments for the people involved in plundering of banks.
‘A messy situation has arisen in the banking sector due to some vested quarters and their actions are not compatible with the policies of the FBCCI. Considering those activities as crimes, we propose that the culprits be brought to book in order to ensure good governance in the sector,’ said FBCCI president Md Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin at a press conference on the proposed budget for the 2018-19 fiscal.
Drawing a line between two types of non-performing loans — one becoming nonperforming due to losses in business and the other for people plundering money from banks in the name of loans — the president of the apex trade body said, ‘We demand exemplary punishment for the people who are involved with the plunder of the bank money.’ 
He said that there would be no lobbying on behalf of the FBCCI to save the people involved in plundering the banks.
Emphasising on implementation of the budget, the FBCCI president urged the government to ensure transparency and accountability in spending fiscal allocations.
Expressing his worries over the government proposal of bank loan for deficit financing, Mohiuddin said that the dependency of the government on bank loan might hamper credit growth in manufacturing sector.
Referring to the 2.50 percentage points reduction in corporate tax for banks and financial institutions, Mohiuddin said that the finance ministry and the Bangladesh Bank should take effective and realistic measures so that the interest rates come down to single digits.
As for the banking sector and other financial institutions, Mohiuddin urged the government to reduce the same amount of corporate tax in all other sectors as well. 
He requested the government not to increase corporate tax rate for the readymade garment sector from the existing 12 per cent for the sake of investment and employment.
The FBCCI president also demanded to continue source tax at the rate of 0.07 per cent for all export sectors.
Mohiuddin urged the government to reconsider the proposal of the FBCCI to increase the taxable income limit to Tk 3 lakh considering the inflation and living costs. 
To attract industrialisation and investment, the FBCCI demanded withdrawal of advance income tax on industrial raw materials.
It also demanded to keep unchanged the yearly depreciation benefits for reconditioned cars and to withdraw the proposed 5 per cent value-added tax on app-based ridesharing services until elevated expressway and metro rail projects were implemented.
FBCCI senior vice-president Sheikh Fazle Fahim, vice-president Md Muntakim Ashraf and members of the board of directors of the trade body were also present at the conference.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net