‘Govt hasn’t done anything means army would take action’, says finance minister on ex-army chief

Though the former chief of Bangladesh Army has retired, the army would take actions against Gen (retd) Aziz Ahmed, remarked finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali Sunday.

He made the remark while talking to newspersons at the secretariat today about his intention to take actions against loan defaulters.

Earlier, the finance minister had a meeting with the executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Krishnamurthy V Subramaniam at the secretariat.

The finance minister was asked which economic indicator is in a good shape in his opinion. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said that there is no need to say this.

He was again asked, does he think inflation is the prime challenge. The minister said not only inflation, there are challenges to improve the forex reserve situation, revenue income and so on.

The finance minister, however, did not consider the high dollar exchange rate as a challenge anymore. “The IMF was speaking about implementing the crawling peg system for a long time. We have done it. Now the IMF is happy, that means we are on the right track.”

The finance minister on his own suddenly said, “Now we have to detain the loan defaulters.”

When he remained silent after finishing this sentence, the newspersons asked him, “Can you do that? The loan defaulters are very powerful.”

Then he said, “Let’s see, if we can do that or not. You see, action is being taken against the former police chief (Benazir Ahmed). Was he less powerful?”

The finance minister further said that the government has the support of the court action against former Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed.

The finance minister then posed a question to newspersons, has the former army chief been arrested? There is an order to seize all his assets? The newspersons informed him that the court order was for the assets of the former police chief.

When the newspersons told the finance minister that US imposed sanctions on Gen (retd) Aziz Ahmed and his family members, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said, “The former army also has been caught; though the US imposed the sanctions, the issue has come to the fore.”

When the journalists asked him that it is not that the government has taken any action against the former army chief. In response, the finance minister said the government has not done anything, that means the army would take action.

He reiterated that the army could take action even though he has retired.

Speaking about this, Brig. Gen. (retd) Sakhawat Hossain told Prothom Alo, “The finance minister has rightly pointed out that the army could take actions as per the army act even after retirement.”

The finance minister informed the media that Bangladesh would receive the third tranche of the IMF loan in June. He also said that steps would be taken in the budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year to implement the electoral manifesto of the party.

Speaking about the steps the governor of Bangladesh Bank has taken to control inflation, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said that the governor is not someone separate, but a part of the government. Earlier he served as the finance secretary. Some newspapers said he was irresponsible; he had no idea. Did he become a finance secretary without any knowledge? Now he is the governor of Bangladesh Bank. He said, is entry to the central bank allowed like this anywhere? Does it all open up? They have people there, spokespersons.

When the newspersons told the finance minister that the central banks of other countries publish important information on their websites but not the Bangladesh Bank. That is why the situation cannot be compared to other countries.

They also asked him whether the newspersons could enter the central bank or not. The minister said, “I will discuss this.”