DHAKA: National Board of Revenue Chairman Muhammad Nojibur Rahman raised questions about the accuracy of Global Financial Integrity’s (GFI) report on illicit financial outflows from Bangladesh.
The Washington-based research and advisory organisation on Monday released the report, which said that unrecorded capital flow from Bangladesh stood at $61.63bn between 2005 and 2014, riding mostly on misinvoicing.
Replying to a question on $9.1bn estimated illicit financial outflows from Bangladesh in 2014, NBR Chairman on Wednesday said: “We are examining the GFI report on money laundering though there are questions about the methodology of the report which did not clearly mention the sources of information.”
He made the comment at a function organised to honour two cleaners of the US Bangla Airlines for their honesty which they showed through handing over 60 gold bars weighing around 7kg found inside an aircraft to customs intelligence.
The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) of the NBR organised the event at its headquarters in Dhaka.
The revenue authorities are examining the global report, said Muhammad Nojibur Rahman adding that “though the amount of illicit financial outflows from the country may not be as big as reported, the tax authority will remain alert and active against money laundering whatever the amount is.”
The country will benefit if the actual information is found, he said.
NBR chairman, also the senior secretary of the Internal Resources Division of the Finance Ministry, said: “An evaluation on trade-based money laundering through trade misinvoicing particularly under-invoicing is also needed.”
