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Download PDF Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) recommended to the caretaker government that it should instruct the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to disclose the names of those electoral candidates who had taken advantage of the recent tax amnesty which allowed them to whiten their undisclosed earnings.
The amnesty provided black money holders with an opportunity to legitimise their illegitimate earnings by paying 7.5 percent tax on their incomes instead of the highest rate of 25 percent. NBR has been keeping the names of the beneficiaries undisclosed so far.
CPD also recommended that the caretaker government takes steps through the Election Commission (EC) to make it mandatory for electoral candidates to open specific bank accounts for the purpose of their electoral expenses to ensure more transparency in campaign spending and to curb ’shadow election financing’.
The civil society think-tank made the recommendations in a document titled Economic Programme: CPD’s Recommendations for the Caretaker Government, which was presented to journalists by the organisation’s Executive Director Debapriya Bhattacharya at a news briefing yesterday morning in the CPD Dialogue Room in the capital. He also submitted the document to Adviser to the Caretaker Government Dr Akbar Ali Khan in the evening for the government’s consideration.
“CPD’s recommendations regarding electoral reforms need to be scrutinised from a legal point of view, I will ask NBR to look into the legal question,” Dr Akbar told journalists after receiving the recommendations.
The think-tank also urged the interim government to make arrangements through the EC for co-ordinating with various departments of the finance ministry and the Auditor and Comptroller General’s Office, the implementation of provisions for financial disclosures of candidates, so the disclosures can be authentic.
According to the Representation of the People Order 1972, candidates are obliged to get a ‘clean’ report from the Central Information Bureau (CBI) of the central bank, but candidates receiving adverse reports frequently get stay orders on the reports from the High Court through writ petitions. To thwart the practice CPD suggested that the caretaker government may pursue the chief justice to add a couple of benches for speedy hearings of these cases instead of issuance of stay orders. It suggested that the benches should notify and consult the banks before issuing any such stay order, if at all.
The interim government should carefully scrutinise all power projects hastily-approved by the immediate past government, before giving them a go ahead, the recommendations added.
Suggesting a test case for demonstrating the central bank’s resolve to strengthen the banking sector the CPD document said the interim government should extend its full support towards implementation of the recommendations of the special investigation team of Bangladesh Bank regarding the frauds committed by Oriental Bank officials. It strongly suggested criminal proceedings against the persons accused of fraudulent activities in connection with the bank’s functions.
Referring to reported intention of the central bank to give green signal to two new non-bank financial institutions out of 50 applicants, the think-tank suggested that the Bangladesh Bank should seriously scrutinise the merit of the proposals before granting such permissions and should leave the decision for the next elected government’s consideration.
In the last three months there has been a decline in revenue collection and inflow of foreign aid while revenue expenditure has increased, forcing the government to borrow from domestic sources extensively, the document said adding that to maintain macro-economic stability, the interim government should curb government spending during its tenure.
A total of 59 projects amounting to Tk 21,059 crore were approved in seven meetings of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council during the first four months of the current fiscal, which is 80 percent of the fund earmarked for the annual development programme (ADP) of the current fiscal.
The non-government think-tank suggested, “The caretaker government needs to take a close look at these projects and reconfirm their justifications before fund disbursement.”
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