Mohammed Badrul Ahsan :
Import payment for capital machinery almost doubled in the July-November of the current financial year compared to the corresponding period amid dull business and investment situation in the country, central bank data showed.
According to the latest Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, import payment for capital machinery increased by 80.80 per cent to US$ 2.49 billion during the period.
However, the unusual increase of import payment raised question among the money market experts whether money laundering is taking place in the name of importing capital machinery.
Experts and BB officials said that some businessmen were now laundering money abroad in the form of import of capital machinery when the country’s business was facing a dull situation.
The BB data showed that the import payment for capital machinery had grown by 20.10 per cent in the July-November period of the last financial year.
Capital machinery worth US$ 1.38 billion was imported in the corresponding period of FY16.
The growth in import payment for industrial raw materials posted a positive growth at 8.35 per cent in the July-November period of this financial year compared with that of 0.75 per cent in the same period last year.
The settlement of letters of credit for the industrial raw materials increased to US$ 6.70 billion in the July-November period of FY17 from US$ 6.20 billion during the same period a year ago.
The country’s business is now facing a stagnant situation, and so the rising import of capital machinery raises a suspicion that money laundering might be occurring behind the scenes, he said.
Former interim government adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam told The New Nation recently that some persons had conducted capital flight in the form of import of capital machinery.
They have done it through over-invoicing in the letters of credit form (LCF), he said.
He said that the country’s economy now was not so strong that the jump in the import of capital machinery could be explained.
Mirza Aziz said, ‘The import of capital machinery for the power sector has recently increased significantly. But, only capital machinery for the power sector did not play the role in increasing the huge growth’.
Former BB governor Salehuddin Ahmed told The New Nation that the higher import growth of capital machinery had not reflected the ongoing investment trend in the private sector.
He said that the country’s private sector had been facing a slower trend in the recent months due to the sluggish business.
He suspected that some businesspeople laundered money through over-invoicing.
The central bank and Customs department should jointly investigate in this regard to verify whether any money laundering was conducted behind the scenes.
The BB data showed that the overall LC settlement, generally known as actual imports, also posted a 14.58 per cent growth in July-November of FY16 compared with that of 2.48 per cent growth during the same period of FY16.
The country’s import payment stood at US$ 19.02 billion in the July-November period of the FY17 against US$ 16.60 billion in the same period of FY16.
Import payment for capital machinery almost doubled in the July-November of the current financial year compared to the corresponding period amid dull business and investment situation in the country, central bank data showed.
According to the latest Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, import payment for capital machinery increased by 80.80 per cent to US$ 2.49 billion during the period.
However, the unusual increase of import payment raised question among the money market experts whether money laundering is taking place in the name of importing capital machinery.
Experts and BB officials said that some businessmen were now laundering money abroad in the form of import of capital machinery when the country’s business was facing a dull situation.
The BB data showed that the import payment for capital machinery had grown by 20.10 per cent in the July-November period of the last financial year.
Capital machinery worth US$ 1.38 billion was imported in the corresponding period of FY16.
The growth in import payment for industrial raw materials posted a positive growth at 8.35 per cent in the July-November period of this financial year compared with that of 0.75 per cent in the same period last year.
The settlement of letters of credit for the industrial raw materials increased to US$ 6.70 billion in the July-November period of FY17 from US$ 6.20 billion during the same period a year ago.
The country’s business is now facing a stagnant situation, and so the rising import of capital machinery raises a suspicion that money laundering might be occurring behind the scenes, he said.
Former interim government adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam told The New Nation recently that some persons had conducted capital flight in the form of import of capital machinery.
They have done it through over-invoicing in the letters of credit form (LCF), he said.
He said that the country’s economy now was not so strong that the jump in the import of capital machinery could be explained.
Mirza Aziz said, ‘The import of capital machinery for the power sector has recently increased significantly. But, only capital machinery for the power sector did not play the role in increasing the huge growth’.
Former BB governor Salehuddin Ahmed told The New Nation that the higher import growth of capital machinery had not reflected the ongoing investment trend in the private sector.
He said that the country’s private sector had been facing a slower trend in the recent months due to the sluggish business.
He suspected that some businesspeople laundered money through over-invoicing.
The central bank and Customs department should jointly investigate in this regard to verify whether any money laundering was conducted behind the scenes.
The BB data showed that the overall LC settlement, generally known as actual imports, also posted a 14.58 per cent growth in July-November of FY16 compared with that of 2.48 per cent growth during the same period of FY16.
The country’s import payment stood at US$ 19.02 billion in the July-November period of the FY17 against US$ 16.60 billion in the same period of FY16.
