People will have to pay more for buying mobile handsets as Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has proposed withdrawing a 5 per cent VAT exemption of mobile phone sets.  Mustafa Kamal proposed the VAT exemption while presenting the Tk 678,064 crore national budget for the financial year 2022-2023 at parliament on Thursday.  “I propose to withdraw the existing 5 per cent VAT exemption at the trading stage of mobile phone sets,” he said. Also Read: Finance Minister starts unveiling Tk 678,064 cr national budget

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday said assets held by the country’s insurance companies have quadrupled to Tk 60,000 crore during the period 2009 to 2021. However,he said the assets held by the industry are still very small in relation to the economy of Bangladesh. Kamal sees a lot of potential to grow the assets of insurance companies in the country. In this case, there is an opportunity to introduce various types of insurance including residents/houses, car, rail, bus, passenger/ traveler.  “We have to pay attention to these so that all people and resources must be covered by insurance,” he added. READ: Finance minister unveiled the publication on 50 years of economic development in Bangladesh The Finance Minister made the remarks while addressing the inauguration ceremony of National Insurance Day (NID)-2022 at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in the capital on Tuesday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joined the occasion virtually as the chief guest. Before the inauguration of Insurance Day, Bangabandhu Suraksha Bima was introduced for persons with disabilities. Bangabandhu Suraksha Bima was inaugurated by handing over the policy to Ishan Azan and Rimi. Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) organized the inaugural ceremony on the occasion of Insurance Day. The National Insurance Day is being celebrated all over the country under the theme 'If we are protected by insurance, we will move forward together'.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said he does not have any mechanism to glean information about money laundering. “I don’t have any mechanism of my own. I’ve received some information from newspapers. I believe the Bangladesh Bank has been working on it,” he told reporters while briefing them on the outcomes of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase and Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday. The Finance Minister, however, said there are some other government bodies responsible to collect information and bring the perpetrators to justice. “We’re taking legal action against them and they’re being punished as per law.”  READ: ‘No idea who’re siphoning off money; give me a list’: Finance Minister Mustafa Kamal said he has a plan to brief journalists soon about how many people have been brought under the law and tried and what kind of improvement made in this regard.   “I’ll inform you about the steps I’ve taken and how many people have been tried,” he said. Responding to another question, the finance minister said he supports the state minister for power and energy statement that petroleum prices need to be adjusted downward if and when the international market gets stable. “Now the market is flexible, the prices of fuels are fluctuating frequently’, he said.    No idea who’re siphoning off money On November 27, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said he has no idea who are actually siphoning off money from the country and asked the opposition MPs to provide him with a list of money launderers. READ: People’s interest in paying tax is growing in Bangladesh: Finance Minister “I don’t siphon off money. I believe you (MPs) also don't. How will I be able to know of those who're siphoning off money if you don’t provide me with a list!” he said. During the passage of Bankers’ Book Evidence Bill 2021, the minister came under fire by the opposition MPs for his “failure” to stop money laundering.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has admitted that the idea of public private partnership (PPP) has failed to meet the expectation.  “Actually, we could not sell the PPP idea properly. But now work has started. We have to give the time... Still we’ve been facing that teething problems”, he told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday.  The Cabinet committee in principle decided to drop a project “Construction of Laldia Bulk Terminal” from the government’s PPP list. Now, the Chattagram Port Authority (CPA) will implement the project by its own fund.   Also read: Finance Minister wonders why people moving to Europe risking lives Earlier, there was decision to implement the project through PPP by the CPA on 59.87 acres of land at Laldia Char area on the right bank of the Karnaphuli River.      Kamal said the government believes it would overcome the problems facing with the PPP.  He said now the government has been implementing projects by its own fund as there is no shortage of money.  “We need foreign direct investment under PPP....the more FDI attraction means the more benefits”, he said.  Also read: Finance Minister dismisses the claim of 2.5 crore new poor “But we could not attract DFI as we didn’t have adequate infrastructures”, he said adding, infrastructures mean physical and non-physical both.  The finance minister said the government believes that as the country is having infrastructures, there will be no problem in attracting FDI and PPP projects.  Responding to another question, he said that he would try to find out if money from the government’s stimulus package was diverted to the country’s stock market as reported by media.  “I would inform you after my own finding whether the allegation is true or not. But so far the fund from stimulus package is not supposed to go elsewhere is it was provided to eligible beneficiaries from specific targeted sectors.  Meanwhile, the CCEA approved a proposal of the Ministry of Liberation War to award the contract to an event management company through direct procurement method without tender process to arrange the concluding programmers of the golden jubilee of the independence celebration with due manner to showcase the country at home and abroad.  It also approved another proposal to purchase Oracle Cloud for the Bangladesh Data Centre Company Limited through direct procurement method.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has wondered why Bangladeshis are illegally moving to Europe risking their lives despite Bangladesh’s huge economic progress. “I really don’t understand why people are moving to Europe risking their lives,” he said after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Saturday.  The minister said this when reporters drew his attention to recent the rescue of 264 Bangladeshis from Tunisian coast of the Mediterranean. Also read: Businessmen given highest benefits with objective to create jobs: Finance Minister Tunisian authorities on June 24 rescued 267 migrants, most of them Bangladeshis, who tried to sail from neighbouring Libya to Italy across the Mediterranean, reports AFP quoting the International Organization for Migration. Mustafa Kamal said people from other countries are also moving to Europe illegally, not only from Bangladesh. “This is a regular phenomenon.” Also read: Finance Minister dismisses the claim of 2.5 crore new poor Responding to another question, the finance minister said the government has not yet taken any decision on the demand of businesspeople to extend the repayment time of their loans which they placed against the backdrop of the new strict lockdown to check the spike in Covid-19 cases and casualties.  He noted that a high-level committee under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will take any decision on any special allocation for the poor people to save them from the economic fallouts of the new lockdown startling on Monday next. Also read: Corruption hurts me as it does others: Finance Minister

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday said the government would revisit the decision to cut interest rate of postal saving scheme.