‘Binimoy App linked to shell company associated with Joy’

Staff Reporter :

The Binimoy app, which enables seamless money transfers between different bank and MFS accounts, has been linked to a shell company associated with Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son and former ICT adviser of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur disclosed this information while speaking as the chief guest at a roundtable discussion titled “Challenges and Prospects of Digital Transactions: VAT Increase Perspective,” organized by Prothom Alo yesterday.

During the event, he emphasized the need for full digitization of the country’s tax system, warning that corruption in revenue management would persist without a fully online value-added tax (VAT) and tax collection process.

“I believe the current 15 percent VAT is too high for everyone to bear,” he said, suggesting that VAT should not exceed 10 percent from a product’s import to its production and sale.
He added that major reforms in revenue management would take at least two to three years, stating, “The current government will not have that time, but we will begin the process.”

Addressing inflation control policies, he remarked, “Some say policies are not working, but I would say they are. Even in developed nations, it takes 10 to 12 months to see the impact of such measures. We expect to see positive results by June.”

The governor also pointed out the sluggish growth in bank deposits, stating, “Currently, deposit growth in Bangladesh’s banking sector is very low. I believe it should be at least 14-16 percent.”

He noted that the development of an interoperable digital transaction platform had been slow as it was under the Ministry of ICT. Mansur further mentioned that the government is exploring alternative methods to replace the Letter of Credit (LC) system.

“We are trying to move away from the LC method. A feasibility study will be conducted in the next three months to identify LC alternatives used in developed countries,” he stated.