High capital flight outwards

According to the report titled "Illegal Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2004-2013" published by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), the country witnessed illegal flight of capital to the tune of $9.66 billion in 2013. To put matters into perspective, that figure is three times the amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) Bangladesh has received in the last so many years. Although political turmoil and uncertainty during 2013 is partly to blame for such massive outflow of capital, it also an indicator of how widespread the problem is of illicit channels being used in Bangladesh to send monies abroad. A large portion of this illegal outflow comes from mis-invoicing while the rest simply cannot be traced.

With the country scoring 26 out of 149 nations covered in the study and recording an increase of more than 33 percent for illegal flight capital in 2013 over 2012, the time has come to take stock of the situation. Unless this is tackled, the trend can only grow from year to year, and it is taking a significant toll on the national economy. The sticky issue of graft has to be tackled head on. It's necessary to make an example of those involved in this racket to dissuade others from this dangerous practice. Better detection management tools are needed by the two major institutions, i.e. National Board of Revenue and Bangladesh Bank to upgrade their capacity to detect and deter capital flight and that can only happen if the political will exists.