Punish delinquent companies and let others do business: Farashuddin

The government should not persecute everybody in order to create a friendly environment for the private sector to do their business and create jobs, said Mohammed Farashuddin, former governor of Bangladesh Bank.

The government should find and punish the "delinquent" companies and let others do business, he said.

He was speaking as the chief guest at an event to discuss Bangladesh's macroeconomic situation, organised by the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) in partnership with the Australian government at the PRI office in Dhaka.

A congenial environment should be created in order to let the economy grow, he said. "It is not good to persecute everybody."

Money laundering takes place in almost every country, he said.

Citing a Washington-based think tank, the former BB governor said $7 billion had been laundered every year since 2004 on average. "But a good friend of mine heading a taskforce [formed by Bangladesh's interim government] has found it is $17 billion."

He lauded the government for the financial reform measures it has taken, saying, "This is the best financial reform in many years in Bangladesh."

Farashuddin also praised the Yunus administration for purchasing foodgrains in large amounts, which raised the country's food stock.

The government should focus on producing skilled manpower, he said, and urged that measures be taken to consider the potential of the 4 million cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) Bangladesh has.

"They should be trained, spotted, and get access to finance."

The country needs big venture capital to identify and support the CMSMEs, which will solve underemployment, unemployment, and disparity, Ahmed said.