Opposition MPs rap Muhith on budget proposals, ask him to step down

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has faced a barrage of criticism from MPs for the second day in parliament during a session over the proposed budget.

Parliament Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 20 June 2017, 02:21 PM
Updated : 20 June 2017, 02:39 PM

Opposition MPs on Tuesday went as far as to ask him to step down.

The previous day, Muhith came under fire from his own colleagues -- ruling party lawmakers -- for the same reason.

The new budget is now deemed unpopular in many quarters.

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During a discussion in parliament on Tuesday, a Jatiya Party lawmaker even demanded pressing 'criminal charges' against Muhith.

The proposed budget for FY2018, which was presented on Jun 1, drew criticism due to increased excise duty to be imposed on bank accounts with at least Tk 100,000 and a uniform VAT of 15 percent.

Opposition MP Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu lashed out at Muhith for setting aside Tk 20 billion to bail out ailing state banks in the revised budget of the outgoing fiscal year.

"He cannot make such proposals at all. He could have allocated it for education or healthcare.”

The MP questioned the rationale for the Tk 20 billion bailout package.

Describing the state banks as 'entities on life support', he said: "You have been bailing them out for the three fiscal years. Why should the government keep providing funds to them?"

He said the minister had no right to use taxpayers' money to support banks, which eventually end up in the hands of influential defaulters.

"He should be prosecuted…criminal charges should be brought against him."

Asking Muhith to step down, Jatiya Party Secretary General Bablu said: "Resign and spare the 160 million people of the country."

Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu. File photo

If the banks could recover the defaults from customers, the government would have not needed to raise the rate of value added tax or VAT, according to him.

"Who has been taking the banks' funds? Are they more powerful than the government? Will they ever be prosecuted? The chairman of BASIC Bank is roaming free. The Anti-Corruption Commission says they did not find anything against him."

Demanding withdrawal of excise duty on bank deposits, Bablu said the move is sending a 'wrong message'. "The finance minister now says he will change the name of the duty."

To Bablu, the FY2018 budget was a “strange budget by a strange finance minister”.

Lawmaker Kazi Firoz Rashid, who sits on the Jatiya Party's policymaking presidium, described the budget as a ‘joke’.

"We do not want any more budget from you. I beg you, Mr Finance Minister."

Referring to Muhith's comment that this was the 'best' among the 11 he has presented, Rashid said it would 'cost votes' in the next election.

Rashid asked if it was logical for the government to impose 15 percent VAT on people and expect votes from them. “Do you think people are stupid?"

Kazi Firoz Rashid. File photo

Criticising increased excise duty on bank deposits and lower interest rates on government-offered savings schemes, the opposition MP said, "Where will the people keep their savings then?"

He accused the finance minister of patronising those 'who have amassed billions from the banks’.

Rashid asked Muhith to make the names of those people public.

"Ibrahim Khaled submitted his findings over the stock market crash, where the names of those close to you came up. Why didn't you make the names public and initiate measures against them?"

Rashid also took a swipe at the ministers, who criticised the budget after approving it.

"It's you who cleared the proposals in the cabinet meeting. Do you really think you have the moral right to criticise it?"

During Monday's session, several ruling MPs, including ministers rapped Muhith for his statements which they said embarrassed the government.

One of them was Awami League MP and former minister Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim.

“Your job is to present the budget, but the 350 MPs who represent people in the House will ultimately decide what to implement. Talk less and don't be stubborn,” said the presidium member of the ruling party.