Finance minister becomes ‘useless’: JP lawmaker

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal came under fire in the parliament today for his role in tackling the financial crisis of the country.

Criticising the finance minister for his absence in Jatiya Sangsad, Shamim Haider Patwary, a Jatiya Party lawmaker, said, "He (the finance minister) can't be found doing any work. There is an ongoing economic crisis, extensive discussions are taking place, but he is nowhere to be seen. He seems to have disappeared. The finance minister has become useless. This is unfortunate for the country."

Shamim Haider made the remark while taking part in a discussion on the New Development Bank Bill, 2023 in the parliament. The bill was supposed to be introduced by the finance minister in the parliament. In his absence, the bill was introduced by Law Minister Anisul Haque. In the current session, the law minister has introduced several bills on behalf of the finance minister.

The New Development Bank Bill was passed in the parliament to welcome funds from the lending arm of BRICS.

According to the objective of the Bill, the BRICS alliance consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa established a multinational bank called the New Development Bank (NDB) in 2014 by signing the Agreement on the New Development Bank. 

Currently, there are five founding members and a total of eight countries including Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are its members. 

According to the bank's Articles of Agreement, the agreement on the New Development Bank needs to be ratified.

The main objective of establishing the New Development Bank is to provide financial support to developing countries for the implementation of infrastructure and sustainable development projects. 

The authorised capital of the bank is $50 billion, of which paid-in-shares are $10 billion and callable shares are $40 billion. 

The total share of Bangladesh is 9,420, and the amount of subscription is $942.00 million as paid-in capital. 

The amount payable by Bangladesh is $188.40 million (approximately Tk2,082 crore), which is payable in seven instalments.

Bangladesh became a member of the bank on 16 September, 2021, by signing the 'Instrument of Accession'. According to Article 48 of the NDB's Articles of Agreement, the Agreement on the New Development Bank needs to be ratified.

According to the said ratification and like other multinational banks, the NDB will have to enact new laws to provide status, immunities, privileges and exemptions from taxes/VAT to achieve its objectives and activities.

The International Financial Organisation Order, 1972 for the IBRD and the IMF, the Asian Development Bank Order, 1973 for the ADB, the Islamic Development Bank Act, 1975 for the IDB and the International Finance Corporation for International Finance Corporation Act, 2015 and recently the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Act 2016 were enacted for the AIIB. 

In this context, it is proposed to enact the New Development Bank Act, 2023.