Editorial
Illicit money transfers from developing countries
Strong monitoring and enforcement of relevant laws necessary
Illicit outflow of money originating from crime, corruption and tax evasion has been causing massive haemorrhage of the economies of the developing world. In the decade between 2001 and 2010, nearly US$ 6 trillion has thus been siphoned off those economies.
A widely circulated Bengali national daily, quoting the findings of Global Financial Integrity, GFI, a Washington-based financial accountability watchdog, says, over the reported decade, about US$ 10. 40 billion have flown out of Bangladesh alone. This amount is equivalent to the total revenue earning target for FY 2012-13 of the NBR.
This is an eye-opener for a country that aspires to become a middle income economy by 2021 through increasing its GDP growth around 7.5 to 8 per cent annually.
The sensational scams involving Hall-Mark, Sonali Bank and Destiny group are an example of such unaccounted-for money falling through loopholes in the financial rules.
The main reasons for illegal transfer of money from the developing economies include political instabilities, high level of corruption, loopholes in the tax laws, black marketing, human and drug trafficking, bank secrecy and so on.
China, Malaysia, Mexico, India are some major victims of such capital flight.
The destinations of this huge flight of fund are some banks in the advanced countries as well as the tax havens like Switzerland, Singapore, Dubai, the Seychelles.
All this is a grave threat to the growth and development of national economies. So, the government should monitor and track down the sources and conduits of clandestine money transfers and curtail such outflows.
The measures may include enforcing money laundering laws, clamping down on secret bank accounts and reforming customs and trade protocols so that export/import payments cannot be used to hide illegal fund transfers.
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