BNP wants financial crisis by discouraging legal remittance inflow: Quader

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has said the BNP was jealous of the government's achievement in increasing remittance and was trying to cause a financial crisis by discouraging expatriates from sending money to Bangladesh through legal channels.

"It is obvious that those who look forward to sanctions on the country and its people by their foreign masters will not be able to accept the positive news in regards to remittance," he said in a press release on Tuesday (30 May) to condemn and protest the statement of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

On Monday (29 May), Mirza Fakhrul, while speaking at an event on the occasion of Ziaur Rahman's 42nd death anniversary, disputed the Awami League's claim that remittances from the US have started to increase. 

He said, "Most people who go to America don't send remittances; those come mainly from the Middle East."

On Tuesday, Quader, also the Awami League general secretary, asserted that Bangladeshi expatriates were more interested in investing in the country like foreign investors after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership was able to establish a robust economic structure in the country and bring it the recognition of "safe place for investment". 

He credited the timely decision made by the prime minister to provide a 2.5% incentive on remittances sent by expatriates.

"The current government has set the precedent of enacting effective laws to prevent money-laundering and ensuring exemplary punishment for the culprits," he said, claiming that the money smuggled by Tareq Zia has been brought back from Singapore.