Md. Shahidul Haque : Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, in a pre-budget discussion organized by the Ministry of Finance with editors and senior journalists of daily newspapers and CEOs of television channels on Saturday at the Secretariat, ruled out the idea of borrowing by printing new money and said, “The economic damage caused by borrowing from local banks and printing additional money will be recovered.” He said that just as bank loans increase high interest rates, they also ‘crowd out’ the private sector, which is harmful to the economy in the long run. He assured that the government will not go down a path that will harm the country’s economy.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Md. Mostakur Rahman said that an incentive package will be given very soon to restart the closed factories and said in response to a question that strong steps are being taken to recover laundered money.
The governor also said that ‘a final decision has not been taken yet on the merger of the 5 Islamic banks. This is a complex and time-consuming task. There is an opportunity to discuss releasing these banks to the private sector.
In the meeting, the Finance and Planning Minister answered various questions from the journalists related to increasing and decreasing the government’s revenue income and the interests of the newspapers.
