Kamal smells a rat among leasing companies

Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. File photo
Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. File photo

Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday said the government will launch special audits for 3-4 leasing companies over suspicions that their loan money was spent for dubious purposes. 


"It may be three or four companies. We doubt that the money was spent for business purposes. We've yet to get any specific audit report and we also have no specific information about it," Mustafa Kamal said.

"We'll take necessary actions after conducting special audit for these companies," said the finance minister while briefing reporters after a meeting with leasing companies at NEC conference room in the city's Agargaon area.

He mentioned that the leasing companies said they face difficulties to collect their financing money as when they seek the money, the debtors go to the court and delay the process.

In reply, the finance minister assured them that the government must take measures to remove loopholes in the laws concerned. "We also assured them that we would increase the number of court benches to dispose of financial disputes and cases," he said.

"We'll bring necessary amendments to the laws to remove legal weakness," he pledged.

Replying to a question, the finance minister said the banks extended financial support to tanners to purchase rawhides of sacrificial animals this year, as they did last year.

"This time the banking support was larger than that of the last year," he added.

Mustafa Kamal said the market of sacrificial animals was worth Tk 40,000 crore during this Eid-ul Azha, which is a huge 29 percent jump year-on-year.