Finance Minister AMA Muhith (File Photo)
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has come under fire from deputies in parliament again for having outlined no plan in the proposed budget on the banking sector reforms.
Jatiya Party MP Kazi Firoz Rashid led the tirade in a discussion on the FY 2018-19 budget on Tuesday, accusing Muhith of “siding with the rich and looters of banks”.
“The proposed budget has no political philosophy. It can’t be called a budget as it lacks philosophy,” Firoz Rashid said.
“What sort of budget is this?” he asked Muhith.
The Jatiya Party Presidium member criticised the finance minister for his proposal to lower corporate tax on banks.
“It can’t be accepted that bank robbers will get facilities. Keep the corporate tax rate the same. You can’t subsidise banks with the taxpayers’ money,” the former minister of HM Ershad’s military regime said.
“Why have you bowed to the looters of banks?” he asked Muhith.
He also said everyone in Bangladesh, including those in the administration, are “in competition with each other to show how loyal they are to the ruling Awami League”.
The Awami League’s Rafiqul Islam also criticised the finance minister for his stance on the banking sector.
“We are a bit frustrated due to the finance minister’s silence amid so much criticism. I hope the finance minister will say something,” he said.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury thanked Muhith for not cutting rates of interest on savings certificates.
She hoped the finance minister would leave the rates unchanged after the passage of the budget.
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