[🇧🇩] Corruption Watch

[Saif]

A disease called Benaziz

There are innumerable Benazirs and Aziz-es all around us, minting money, making mansions, mixing and mingling with multimillionaires around the globe.

en.prothomalo.com

A disease called Benaziz
Ayesha Kabir
Published: 17 Jun 2024, 12: 21

It's chronic, it's infectious, and as in the case of any other dangerous disease, prevention is better than cure. Once the contagion spreads its tenacious tentacles, it is often beyond cure. It squeezes the lifeblood out of all ethics, integrity, honesty or any such values and principles. This is the deadly disease, Benaziz.

Given the avalanche of news reports on the almost "iconic" corruption and crime of Benazir and Aziz, it seems only befitting to dub this contagion with the moniker "Benaziz", like the name-mergers of Hollywood couples -- Bennifer, Brangalina, TomKat and so on.

We are gasping at the amount of wealth and property that the former police chief Benazir Ahmed has amassed. We are shocked at how low the former army chief Aziz Ahmed has stooped to aid and abet his criminal brothers. But are we really all that shocked? Don't we all firmly believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg, that there are innumerable Benazirs and Aziz-es all around us, minting money, making mansions, mixing and mingling with multimillionaires around the globe?

This is not a column about either Benazir or Aziz -- there is a continuous deluge of news about them, and every day a Pandora's Box opening up and spewing out the likes of Anwarul Azim, his friend-cum-killer Akhteruzzaman, other criminals and crime, large and petty, white collar, blue collar, multi-collared and no collar at all! While each and every one of these vermin needs to be caught, tried and punished, it is most important to get to the roots, to uproot and evil once and for all. We sanitised our hands throughout the Covid outbreak, now we need to sanitise our souls.

Moral turpitude

The term 'moral turpitude' gained currency during the Ershad era. He had been seen as the epitome of corruption. Not to condone his misdeeds, but the corruption-practitioners of today must scoff at his "petty larceny". Not only has corruption become all-pervasive, but the sheer figures that appear in the media about the wealth that has been amassed, the capital that has taken flight, the assets that have been accumulated and the liabilities that have been shrugged off, is mind-boggling.

Every Tom, Dick and Harry seems to have a second home in Malaysia, Canada, America and now the hotspot Dubai. (It's the Jodu-Modu who still struggle on the streets back home). And back home too, the properties of the rich are taking on massive proportions of luxury and opulence. The vehicles in car parks of the five-star hotels and the classy cafes and restaurants of the affluent neighbourhoods range from Rolls Royce to Jaguars, Ferraris and you name it.

But the divide between the rich and the poor is growing, it's growing fast and growing wide. In Bangladesh, the wealthiest 10 per cent of the population controls 41 per cent of the nation's total income. The bottom 10 per cent receives a pittance of 1.31 per cent.

This disparity in wealth is deepening and is starkly visible, embarrassingly so. The juxtaposition of capital Dhaka's upscale Gulshan-Baridhara-Banani areas (sardonically referred to as the tristate) and neighbouring Korail slum, the sprawling biggest slum in the city, is a classic cliché. But a sad one. Sad, because the wealth of these ultra-wealthy hardly trickles down to improve the lot of the poor. Their wealth is siphoned to destinations around the world. Sad because all too often this wealth is ill-gotten.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Deposits of Bangladeshi banks, nationals in Swiss banks hit lowest level ever

It declined 68% year-on-year to 17.71 million Swiss francs in 2023

www.thedailystar.net

Deposits of Bangladeshi banks, nationals in Swiss banks hit lowest level ever
It declined 68% year-on-year to 17.71 million Swiss francs in 2023

Deposits of Bangladeshi nationals and banks in Swiss banks declined by 68 percent year-on-year to 17.71 million Swiss francs (CHF) last year, the lowest ever, reflecting the falling attractiveness of Switzerland among the wealthy people to park money.

The deposits were 55.2 million Swiss francs (CHF) in 2022, according to data by the Swiss National Bank released yesterday.

This is the second year in a row that deposits kept by Bangladeshis have fallen in Swiss banks. But that does not mean that illicit outflow of capital from the country has stopped, said two analysts.

"Of course, illegal money siphoning out of the country has increased and it is taking place. But Swiss banks are not favourite destination anymore. It is not a place to keep identity secret anymore," said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director at the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh.

"Now, Dubai, and Singapore are favourite destinations as the nearest destinations. Money is siphoned off to and is invested in real estate and business in the USA, and England."

People who have transferred money there have business operations there. They have registered firms in Dubai, Singapore, said Mansur, a former economist at the International Monetary Fund.

Switzerland had once kept the information of depositors confidential. Now it is not doing this anymore. It provides information to the state if any government seeks, he added.

Data from the Swiss National Bank showed that Bangladeshi nationals kept 13.96 million CHF in Swiss banks in 2023, the lowest since 1997.

The amount was 78 percent of the total deposits of 17.71 million CHF or $19.86 million.

The deposits at Swiss banks were Tk 233 crore in Bangladeshi taka. In the case of Bangladeshi nationals, the deposit amount was Tk 184 crore.

Mansur said Bangladeshis living in Switzerland may hold a portion of the deposits. And a portion of reserves of Bangladesh are kept there, he added.

Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, said Switzerland is one of the many destinations for illicit fund transfer.

Switzerland is a conventional destination. But since it joins global efforts against money laundering and corruption, it has lost its attraction, he added.

"Many more destinations for illegal money transfer have come up and they are more attractive," he said citing Malaysia, Singapore, and the Middle Eastern countries.

"Plus, there are offshore destinations to park money. One can buy properties in the UK, the USA and Canada, which is not easy in the case of Switzerland," added Iftekharuzzaman.

"So, the falling deposits in the Swiss kept by Bangladeshi citizens and banks does not provide any relief that illegal capital flight has declined."​

 

[Saif]

Black money whitening provision needs to be reviewed: Momen

Taxpayers have been disappointed with the budgetary provision for whitening black money, former foreign minister AK Abdul Momen told parliament today

www.thedailystar.net

Black money whitening provision needs to be reviewed: Momen

File photo
Taxpayers have been disappointed with the budgetary provision for whitening black money, former foreign minister AK Abdul Momen told parliament today.

"Honest taxpayers have become frustrated with the provision of whitening black money just by paying a 15 percent tax. I feel the provision needs to be reviewed further," he said.

Corruption is now the main barrier to maintaining growth, he said. The government's image is being tarnished because of corruption, he added.

Momen said the projects are not getting implemented in time due to corruption, which ultimately causes a rise in project costs.

"A portion of bureaucrats has become corrupt, which is intensifying harassment of the people. The entire bureaucracy is blamed due to a handful of corrupt bureaucrats," said Momen.

He said this while participating in the general discussion on the proposed national budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

The price hike of daily essentials, alongside the rise in taxes, corruption, and extortion, is a matter of great concern for the country's people, Momen said.​

 

[Saif]

Dollar crisis linked to $7-8b capital flight: ex-minister

Finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on Thursday that they had to follow the World Bank for foreign currencies, while former state minister for...

www.newagebd.net

Dollar crisis linked to $7-8b capital flight: ex-minister
Staff Correspondent 21 June, 2024, 00:34

Finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on Thursday that they had to follow the World Bank for foreign currencies, while former state minister for planning Shamsul Alam blamed capital flights for the country's prolonged shortage of dollars.

They were speaking at a post-budget discussion arranged by the Bangladesh Agricultural Economists Association in the capital, ahead of the passing of the finance bill in parliament on June 29.

The former state minister for planning, while focusing on the prolonged dollar shortage, said that the government should check capital flight to the tune of $7 billion to $8 billion annually.

He said that capital flights had caused the dollar crisis.

The former state minister for planning was critical of the country's banking sector, which was overburdened with bad loans and contributed to the current economic downturn.

Calculating 22 per cent of the overall bank credits as risky, he said that the trend should be reversed with strong reform based on the recommendations of a commission or a strong committee.

He lauded some of the budgetary proposals and suggested the finance minister give more focus to revenue generation, which, according to him, is one of the weakest points.

Due to less-than-expected revenue generation, successive governments have been borrowing from multilateral lenders for foreign funds and meeting the budget deficit.

Highlighting the necessity of foreign funds, the finance minister said in his speech that they had to follow the WB suggestions.

The WB provides us with loans, he said while responding to critics of the economy and the budgetary measures he proposed for FY25 in parliament on June 6.

He said that they would accept the recommendations of the critics if they provide funds.

Asking critics to look at what the WB was saying about the country's economy, the finance minister claimed that the WB had called it alright.

He noted that it was unacceptable that the WB did not understand the economic issues.

The finance minister was also critical of those who said that the country would face bankruptcy like the one its South Asian neighbour Sri Lanka faced in 2022.

He, however, said that the government would consider positive suggestions regarding the national budget before passing it in parliament.

The finance division is keeping feedback, and feasible ones will be considered, he said, adding that the budget has not been passed yet.

State minister of commerce Ahasanul Islam Titu, the representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation appointed in Bangladesh Jiaoqun Shi, and Bangladesh Agricultural Economists Association president Sajjadul Hassan, among others, spoke at the seminar.

The state minister for commerce said it should be reviewed to see how much of the agricultural subsidy was implemented.

He suggested that agricultural experts be involved in the marketing channel and said that focus should be given to protecting perishable items.

Sajjadul Hassan said the subsidy on fertilisers should be monitored properly so that marginalised farmers are not deprived of their due share.​

 

[Saif]

The economics of black money & the budget

Like a bee in the bonnet, the proposal in the draft budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 (FY25) to whiten black money after payment of income tax at the rate of 15 per cent has created a buzz in the media and among analysts that has superseded all other criticisms. That the reaction to the proposal wou

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

The economics of black money & the budget
HASNAT ABDUL HYE
Published :
Jun 20, 2024 21:49
Updated :
Jun 21, 2024 21:41

Like a bee in the bonnet, the proposal in the draft budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 (FY25) to whiten black money after payment of income tax at the rate of 15 per cent has created a buzz in the media and among analysts that has superseded all other criticisms. That the reaction to the proposal would elicit such a virulent response was predictable because it is not the first time this has happened. Knowing that this is going to be 'unpopular' with the vocal section of the population, the decision to go ahead with the proposed amnesty for holders of black money speaks of the desperation of the government to collect revenue from every possible source. It may also be a strategy to bring unaccounted for money from the economy that has come to have the monikers of shadow, parallel, underground and black economy. Since behind most of the vitriolic remarks by critics appears to be the assumption that the holders of black money are corrupt individuals and as such corruption would be rewarded by the proposal, it may be helpful for the discussion to shed some light on the sources of black money

Black money is earned from various sources that elude law of the land and rules and regulations regarding production, sale and distribution of goods and services and through rent seeking, all of which remain outside the tax network because of evasion. While almost all of these sources involve production and sale of goods and services illegally, the last viz rent seeking makes no value addition in the economy at the time of 'earning' and siphons off money from others, misusing power and influence. Since income from all these sources evades tax payment they are termed as 'black'. It should be pointed out that black money may result from both legally and illegally earned income when tax is not paid. Illegally earned money is kept out of tax payment to keep the sources secret lest punitive actions are taken by government law enforcers. Earners of income through legal means may resort to under-reporting with a view to paying less than the tax due. Among the earners of income through illegal means are smugglers, black marketers, drug traffickers, human traffickers, adulterers, hoarders and last but not the least hired killers. The rent seekers, on the other hand, who sponge off legal and illegal income earners belong to government servants, politicians in power, student leaders and staff of local government institutions who engage in extortionate collection of subscriptions or protection money. There may be exceptions in each category but the exceptions serve to prove the rule. The diatribe against the proposal to whiten black money in the proposed budget is mostly directed at the earners of black money through rent seeking as explained above. Given the bad name to the country in the global corruption index under successive governments, the exasperation of the critics over the proposal to whiten black money is understandable. But in finding fault on this account a distinction has to be made between black money earned through rent-seeking (corruption) and from other sources. Though some estimates have been made about the size of the shadow/ black economy, the figure (as percentage of the GDP) has not been disaggregated according to their sources as classified above. But the total size, as revealed in the studies, may lend some justification for the fiscal measure to tap this ice- berg like source for tax collection to augment the fiscal space. A modicum of insight into the murky world of the black or shadow economy through an overview may be helpful for further discussion

To be continued.................​

 

[Saif]

TYPES OF BLACK ECONOMIES: According to researchers there are three types of black economies: (a) the illegal economy; (b) the under-reported economy; and (c) the unrecorded economy.

The illegal economy consists of income produced by activities pursued in violation of laws defining the scope of legitimate forms of commerce. Extortion, toll collection, drug dealing etc are part of the illegal economy. The unreported economy seeks to evade the institutionally established fiscal rules as codified in the tax code. Under-the-table-employment and untaxed private transactions that are otherwise legal fall in this category. The unrecorded economy refers to economic activities that circumvent the institutional rules defining the reporting requirements of government statistical agencies. This can be due to deliberate concealment of information for legitimate or illegitimate reasons or due to practical difficulties associated with data collection.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: The key takeaways from discussions and analyses by economists of black money in recent years in a nut shell have been the following:

(i)The black economy includes all economic activity in a given economy that occurs outside or in violation of the prevailing laws and regulations of a country; (ii) Individuals may break or ignore the rules imposed when governments intervene, tax or regulate markets. This can produce net benefits in some cases (making scarce goods available) or costs to society as in the case of drug trafficking; (iii) Activity in the black economy is often illegal ,usually untaxed, and rarely recorded by official economic statistics. In fact, the activity may not consist of formal market transactions at all, making it very difficult to estimate.

To be continued.............​

 

[Saif]

HOW DOES THE BLACK ECONOMY STAY HIDDEN: Because tax evasion or participation in a black market activity is illegal, those who engage in such behaviour often attempt to conceal their activities from government or regulatory authorities. Black economy participants traditionally choose to transact their illegal activities in cash, since use of cash does not leave a footprint. More recently, crypto-currencies have opened up new possibilities for payment, particularly over the dark web. Different types of underground activities are distinguished according to the institutional rules that they violate.

HOW BIG IS THE BLACK ECONOMY IN BANGLADESH: Officially no estimate has so far been made by government regarding the size of the black economy. According to newspaper sources, during the discussion with the IMF review mission last month the concerned NBR officials reportedly mentioned that 30 to 40 per cent of Bangladesh economy remain outside the formal economy, accounting for Tk 136 to Tk.180 billion. Instead of using the term 'black money' this was euphemistically described as 'unaccounted for money' by them. The possibility of tapping this source might have been discussed with the IMF review mission but nothing can be said on this with certainty. But there is the precedence of taxing black money and declaring amnesty on this after bringing the black money within the formal economy in the recent past . Though the move was vehemently opposed by analysts and extensively commented on in the media, the government went ahead with the policy initiative with regard to black money. Instead of riding roughshod over objections raised this time, the government should expatiate the rationale for legitimising the illegitimate wealth. It should, if there are grounds available, argue that it is not immoral at all to allow whitening of black money and neither the policy proposal is meant to condone corruption. This two-fold argument can become all the more potent if an idea is given about the size of the black economy. As everyone knows, when a predatory animal is not identified as dreadful in a recognisable form, attempts to restrain it with tools in hand lacks conviction for the general public, not to speak of the knowledgeable section.

A research paper by an official of the ministry of finance, government of Bangladesh on the subject was made public through the official portal of the ministry in 2011. Though it is not fully an official document, its release through the official channel confers on it a semi-official status. In this research paper the author has pointed out that the underground economy in Bangladesh was only 7 per cent of GDP in 1973. By 2010 the size of the black economy rose to account for as high a percentage as 62.75 per cent of GDP. The researcher based his study and arrived at his estimate using the model by Tanzi (1980, 1983) after some modification to fit into Bangladesh case. He used currency demand method including Tanzi's model, building upon regression models with multiple time variables. The Currency Demand Approach assumes that tax is the main variable impacting on the size of the black economy and that holders of black money use currency to avoid paying taxes. The main assumptions underlying the Currency Demand Approach are: (i) velocity of illegal money equals the legal money; (ii) the velocity of illegal money equals to the velocity of narrow money (M1) and (iii) velocity of illegal money equals to the average velocity of legal money and narrow money. It is under assumption (iii) that the size of black money was estimated by the researcher at 62.7 per cent of GDP in 2010 (Sk Towhidul Haque, Underground Economy of Bangladesh— An Econometric Analysis, 2010)

To be continued.....................​

 

[Saif]

Friedrich Schneider, an European economist estimated the black economy of 110 countries in 2004 including developed, developing and emerging economies using Currency Demand Approach and dynamic multi- factor and multi-variable (MIMIC) approach for estimating the range of the shadow economy. His findings show that Bangladesh had a shadow economy equal to 28.4 per cent of GDP during 1990-90, 32.4 per cent during 1997-99 and 35.6 per cent during 1990- 2000 periods.

Kabir Hassan, another Bangladeshi economist, used an econometric model in 2008 to estimate the underground economy and analysed its impact on government fiscal position, particularly on allocation of resources in the aggregate economy. He used both the Currency Demand Approach and the Dynamic Multi- factor and Multivariate (MIMIC) method. According to the Currency Demand Approach he found the shadow economy in Bangladesh averaging 20 per cent during 1975-2008 but on the basis of the MIMIC approach his estimate of the black economy stood at 29 per cent of GDP in 1996 and 46.60 per cent in 2004.

The historical trend of the underground economy/black economy in Bangladesh under different approaches shows that the size under UGDPM3 in FY 2000 was 37.24 per cent of GDP which is consistent with the findings of Schneider (2004). Under UGDPM3 the underlying assumption is velocity of illegal money equals to the average velocity of legal money.

Though the findings of the empirical works on the black economy varies in details because of the differences in assumptions and econometric models used, the size has been shown to increase dramatically from the early seventies to early 2000, averaging over 30 per cent of GDP.

LEGALISING THE BLACK MONEY: Assuming that roughly 50 per cent of the black money has been laundered abroad, the remaining 50 per cent amounts to a hefty size (Tk.136-Tk180 billion, according to the unofficial estimate by NBR disclosed informally to the visiting IMF mission recently). The question that begs for an answer is what are the costs and benefits of this hidden money being legalised?

The first objection raised by critics of the proposed amnesty is on grounds of ethics and morality. Declaring amnesty to black money holders is considered immoral by many as it encourages corruption and discriminates against the honest tax payers, according to them. The judgement on this debate, however, will depend on what terms the facility of amnesty is being offered. If the terms are punitive in nature (taxes to be paid by black money holders at a rate higher than the rate at which honest tax payers pay taxes) and puts a ceiling on the amount that can be made legitimate ( a maximum of say, Tk 10 crore allowed to be whitened), then the logic behind the criticism about immorality can be removed. But the budget proposal to legalise black money after payment of 15 per cent income tax, with no ceiling of the amount that can be whitened does not satisfy this requirement to obviate the morality issue. This has to be done to assure honest taxpayers that they are not being discriminated through preferential treatment of black money holders and to send the message to the denizens of the underworld that amnesty for ill gotten money comes with the price tag of a penal rate of tax and a ceiling of the amount that can be made white. If this modification is not made to the proposal to legitimise black money, the government cannot extricate itself from the moral bind in which it finds caught now.

To be continued...............​