Public Debt Bill lands in Parliament
The Public Debt Bill, 2021 was placed in Parliament on Tuesday to make the existing law a time-befitting one.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal placed the Bill and it was sent to the respective scrutiny committee for further examination. The Committee was asked to submit its report within 15 days.
The Public Debt Act 1944 is a very old law, which was extended on several occasions.
The Bill said since the debt system witnessed a radical change, the Finance Division designed the new law.
According to the proposed law, the government will give a precise guarantee against the debt taken by the government from people that they would get back the deposited money anyhow.
A new provision was also incorporated in the draft law for running a Shariah-based deposit system alongside the normal deposit system.
The public would be informed about the profits or interest against their deposits.
If anyone does not provide false information in obtaining the issued certificates under the government security and saving certificate schemes, he or she would face maximum six-month imprisonment, Tk one lakh fine or both.