Dhaka Bureau: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the reserve money has been spent for the welfare of the people. He said this while inaugurating the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway on Saturday (November 12).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in response to the false propaganda of BNP leaders about foreign exchange reserves, “Awami League government never wastes a single penny from the reserves, but uses this money for the benefit of the country and people.”
He said, “Awami League government does not waste a single penny of this country. Every money is spent for the welfare of the people of Bangladesh.
He said, “There was no misappropriation of money from the reserve money. BNP leaders talk about the issue all the time, as their leader Tariq Rahman has been sentenced to seven years in jail and fined Tk 20 crore in a money laundering case and is now a fugitive. I want to tell them that when BNP was in power, the reserve was only 2.9 billion USD. And from 2001 to 2008 it increased to about 5 billion dollars. From there we were able to increase this reserve to about 48 billion US dollars.
The head of government said, “Everything from communication, travel, import was almost closed due to Corona virus. And whenever the communication system is opened, we have to pay from the additional supply and reserves due to the increased cost of imports, as well as the global economic recession caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. Still, free vaccines and corona test systems like Bangladesh, which is also a very developed country in the world. Couldn’t do it.’
The Prime Minister said, “The price of food products, transportation costs, fuel oil, edible oil, wheat, corn, etc., all the products that have to be imported, have increased in the world. Although Bangladesh produces rice, it has to import some due to various natural disasters.
Sheikh Hasina said, “Whatever we have spent is for the benefit of the people, for the welfare of the people. Buying food and medicine for the people has to be done for the welfare of the people. Fertilizer, fuel, electricity we have to buy, we buy with cash. Besides, we have purchased aircraft with our reserve money. As we are doing river dredging with our own money, we are also doing some investments.
He said, “If the government had taken this money as a loan from the banks of other countries, it would have had to pay the money with interest.” And if we give from our bank what we are giving from Sonali Bank, then the money including the interest remains in the country’s money and we are spending about 8 billion keeping that in mind. Some dollars from here have been given as loans to Sri Lanka’s economic woes.’
Sheikh Hasina also said in this context, “That’s why no one has taken the money here, which they always fear, they say like that.”
So those who are in the habit of money laundering only know that the money probably has to be taken away,’ he said. Source: BSS
