Bangladesh has proposed a common currency with other South Asian nations willing to join such a currency union. ‘I’ve proposed a common currency for those South Asian nations which are willing to join in … it is doable even without other economic parameters such as fiscal deficit being regulated as all our currencies are pegged to the dollar and each other,’ Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh’s finance minister, told Indian businessmen at a meeting on trade and investment organized by CII in New Delhi on Friday.
Muhith, who met his Indian counterpart P Chidambaram on Thursday, said he had first proposed it at a SAARC meet in 1998 in Karachi, but it did not find acceptance.
‘I proposed it again later, about two years back and a SAARC committee was set up … but nothing beyond that . . . but we need not make it a SAARC currency, it can be sub-regional to start with . . . for those willing to join in,’ he said. ‘We trade a lot among ourselves … it would be good to have a common currency, this will reduce the cost of doing business and ease trade and investment flows between neighbours,’ said the minister.
Bangladesh and India will increase the number of land ports through which the two countries could trade, he said, adding that transit was more acceptable to Bangladesh but the country needs to build up its infrastructure before more facilities could be given to businesses to trade through each other’s territories.
Both countries need to take steps to increase the number of border haats to facilitate people to people commerce between the two nations, Muhith said.
He said the government is working to develop infrastructures on Ashuganj-Agortala railroad and waterway under India’s credit line.
Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman who also spoke at the same programme urged Indian entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh, saying that Bangladesh’s FDI policy regime is among the most liberal ones in South Asia.
He also highlighted the fast pace of Bangladesh’s economic growth and improvement in its human development indices. Post tax profits/dividends of foreign investments are freely repatriable in foreign exchange as also are disinvesment proceeds including capital gains, he added.
He said tax holidays allowed by government from time to time for investments in various priority sectors apply equally for both domestic and foreign investments. As of now earnings from IT services are exempt from income tax up to June 2015, he added.
‘Both Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh government remain responsive in promptly addressing new issues as they arise,’ said Atiur Rahman.
Others who spoke at the meeting were Shekhar Dutta, past president of CII who identified key areas where Indian and Bangladeshi businesses could collaborate on different areas, including IT and knowledge economy.
-With New Age input
