Lankan central bank did whatever the rulers asked: Salehuddin

Former Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed said oligarchy is responsible for Sri Lanka's collapse even though the island nation once had all its economic indicators very promising.

Holding the "Rajapaksa clan" solely responsible for the crisis, he said, "The Lankan government did not listen to the central bank governor. The ruling clan did the damage, as the central bank did what it was asked to do."

At a seminar at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Saturday, Salehuddin called for taking note of the Lankan crisis.

"We will learn from Sri Lanka. They did not address their issues in time," the former governor of the Bangladesh Bank told the programme organised by Nagorik Oikya.

"Sri Lanka certainly has many intellectuals. But the government did not listen to them."  

Demanding exemplary punishment to the money launderers, he said the volume of defaulted loans now has jumped to Tk1.25 lakh crore from previous Tk22,000 crore.    

"How is this possible? Is it conceivable that the amount would jump six to seven times abruptly? Policy-makers are well aware of people who syphon money off the country. But the government does not take any strong measures to prevent money laundering," he commented.

Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna said the country's main crisis is money laundering.

"You may remember, a minister told the House that bureaucrats have more houses in Canada's Begumpara than the politicians. Even the prime minister herself said something like this in the parliament. She knows who the money launderers are," Manna claimed.

He said the government's inaction against the culprits suggests it pampers the money launderers.  

In a written statement, Manna said, "Capitalising on the extreme power crisis, the government has extended the term of quick rental power plants from 2-16 years to hand over an unimaginable amount of money to some of its groups. In the last ten years, Tk70,000 crore has been paid only for the capacity charge of the plants."

The Nagorik Oikya convener said the situation in Bangladesh has now become a matter of international talk whether we like it or not.

"A few days ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed concern that several other countries including Bangladesh may face a Sri Lanka-like crisis."

He claimed Bangladesh officially has $32 billion in forex reserve, which can cover the import bills for four months.

Energy expert BD Rahmatullah said no country has quick rental power plants except Bangladesh.

"Before this government came to power, there was a power crisis in 2005 or 2006. Capitalising on that, the government then went to the quick rental scheme for three years," he said, and raised questions about extending the scheme multiple times.  

He said, "Not only in the power sector, there is an unbridled corruption and plunder in all the sectors."