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Govt to cut remittance transfer fee next month: Muhith

Finance Minister AMA Muhith today said the charge for expatriate Bangladeshis to send home remittances will soon be cut down to increase its flow to the country.“We will cut down the fee for remittance transfer in the next month and there will be a nominal charge for sending home remittances,” Muhith said while talking to journalists after inaugurating a newly constructed fountain in Naiyorpul area of Sylhet.He said tendency of expatriates to settle aboard is increasing and it is the main reason of sending less money to the country.About trafficking of money he said such illicit practices take place across the globe but the rate of growth of Bangladesh is a little higher.“We’re also responsible for it because we have kept the price of land lower here,” he added.For example, the finance minister said if one sells a piece of land at Tk 1.0 crore, as per the government’s system its price is only Tk 30 lakh. In such a case Tk 70 lakh becomes illegal or black money, he said and added that the government will soon adjust the land price with the market rate to check the illicit trafficking of money.Sylhet City Corporation mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury, deputy commissioner Rahat Anwar, Chittagong Stock Exchange chairman AK Abdul Momen, Mahanagar Awami League general secretary and sadar upazila chairman Asad Uddin were present at the programme.Source: BSS