Muhith comes down hard on businessmen

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday came down hard on businessmen for their constant requests for lowering of interest rates for the sake of investment.
The same people refuse to reduce the interest rates when they become bank directors themselves, he said in parliament yesterday.
“It is necessary to stop this contradiction.”
Businessmen should stop extreme profiteering, Muhith said.
Also at the session, Muhith refused to give answers to two questions -- one from an independent MP and another from Jatiya Party MP -- that probed what actions the government has taken against the “looting of thousands of crores of taka from different state banks in the name of giving loans”.
Replying to another query, Muhith informed the House that the “pay and service commission 2013” will submit its report before the government by December 15.

“The government will implement the pay-scale as early as possible after getting the commission's report,” the minister said in a scripted reply. Asked how much money has been laundered in legal and illegal ways from the country in the last ten years, Muhith replied that the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit does not have any information on that, as it only works to stop money laundering from the country.
He said processes are underway to sign agreements with different countries to this end.
Replying to another query, Muhith said the amount of unpaid bank loans of Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko, two sons of BNP chief Khaleda Zia, is Tk 40.14 crore.
Muhith added that they took the loan on behalf of their business organisation -- Dandy Dyeing.
They are yet to repay the loan, according to the government database as of September.