Bangladesh Bank to investigate GFI claims of $75 billion lost to money smuggling

The central bank will investigate the claims, made in a report by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), that it has lost billions of dollars to illicit flows.

State Minister for Finance MA Mannan, on behalf of Finance Minister AMA Muhith, spoke about the issue in Parliament on Wednesday.

On Monday, the GFI published the report “Illicit Financial Flows to and from Developing Countries: 2005-2014".

According to the report, Bangladesh lost as much as $75.15 billion or Tk 700 billion to trade misinvoicing and other unrecorded outflows between 2005 and 2014.

Responding to an MP, Mannan said, "There are also doubts about free flow of information across the globe. But we are not brushing away these information."

He said the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Bangladesh Bank will gather information on the smuggling of money and investigate the information in order to stop the trend.

"Theft will always be there, but we must remain alert," Mannan said.

Earlier at a press conference, Law Minister Anisul Huq also said on finding evidence, legal steps would be taken against those who have siphoned capital out of Bangladesh.

Later in Parliament, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal MP Moin Uddin Khan Badal demanded that the finance minister make a statement on the GFI report.

"Please stop doing other things and answer us in Parliament," he told Muhith.

"How is the money finding its way out of the country? Who are sending this? We don’t know them. Who are those gentlemen?" he asked.

Badal said the finance minister cannot simply shirk his responsibility only by saying that "the money smugglers have very long arms".

"I want clear answer," the MP said.

He also wanted to know what steps the government has taken to stop money smuggling.

"If these gaps in development remain, we will not be able to achieve the status of a middle-income country. We would rather think about how backward we could move," Badal said.