Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said the government couldn't effectively combat corruption despite having different statutes and watchdog body for the fight.
"We cannot progress a lot in fighting corruption even after enactment of laws and the formation of the Anti-Corruption Commission," he said at a national dialogue on the role of budget and other policy frameworks in eradication of inequality and poverty.
The minister, however, pinned his hope on digitised government financial transaction and tendering of public works. It is yielding fruit in this regard, he said.
According to him, around 70 per cent of government financial transactions and tender processes have come under disitisation, and the coverage needs to be expanded.
All Party Parliamentary Group organised the dialogue Sunday at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka in cooperation with global NGO Oxfam.
The finance minister agreed to consider a proposal that the information minister put forward–finding out 30,000 people who can pay taxes worth Tk 10 million each for augmentation of revenue earning.
"The idea is very good. We'll take measures to identify 30,000 people capable of paying Tk 10 million in taxes each," he said.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu earlier proposed the formation of a taskforce to find out such people, saying that will enable the government to spend more on social safety net and other tools which may help fight poverty and inequality.
The finance minister said the government has plans to raise the number of taxpayers to 1.5 million this fiscal and to 2.0 million at the end of this government's tenure in 2018 from the current number of 1.2 million.
Mr Muhith and several other discussants observed that the current number of taxpayers in a population of 160 million is very low.
Responding to suggestions from several discussants for raising budgetary allocation for several fields, especially social safety net, he said, "(We) know allocation needs to be increased. But the issue is wherefrom the money will come?"
The finance minister said Bangladesh is not giving the attention population control deserves.
"We did not bother about population control in last several years. Now time has come to bother about it," he told the meet.
According to the minister, population growth was 2.8 per cent when Bangladesh introduced family-planning programmes in the nineties and the rate declined to 1.2 per cent, but last year it again rose to 1.4 per cent.
Muhith said the country will have to give more attention to the area to reach a static population of 200 million by 2050.
He laid emphasis on reduction in the cost of remittance that now stands around 10 per cent. He said he believes the cost should not be more than 3.0 per cent.
Research Director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Binayak Sen presented the keynote paper at the dialogue.
Former foreign affairs minister Dipu Moni, former food and disaster management minister Abdur Razzak, finance division Senior Secretary Mahbub Ahmed, Planning Commission Member Shamsul Alam, Kazi Keramat Ali MP, Oxfam Country Director Snehal V Soneji and Programme Director MB Akhter, and several other lawmakers also spoke.
Binayak Sen said Bangladesh needs to worry about those who are now above the poverty line but risk going below it anytime due to income shocks, consumption shocks and asset shocks.
"These shocks can be generated by health shocks, climate shocks or personal insecurity shocks," he said.
The economist advised the government to take measures to arrest the rising trend in income and asset inequalities to achieve the zero-poverty goal.
He said the country should be concerned about the chronic poor, those prone to extreme poverty, and the vulnerable non-poor who earn 1-2 dollars a day.
Lawmakers suggested increases in budget allocations for the development of haor (swamp area), coastal areas, Chittagong Hill Tracts, and other areas lagging behind other parts of the country. [Read More]

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Source: The Financial Express