Per capita debt is around $365, FinMin tells parliament

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday said the current per capita debt of the countrymen stands at around $365. The minister made the disclosure while replying a tabled question from ruling Awami League MP Haji Selim. He said the country’s foreign debt until June 2023 is $62,312.71 million (temporary), including $36,781.03 million from multilateral sources and $25,531.68 million from bilateral sources. AHM Kamal said according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data, the country’s total population is 170.79 million and the current per capita debt is around $364.85. The finance minister said, the highest debt of $19,536.82 million was taken from the World Bank.While replying to a query of AL MP Kazim Uddin Ahmed from Mymensingh-11, the finance minister said according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) standards, as of 12 October this year, the amount of gross foreign reserve at Bangladesh Bank stands at $21,116.59 million. He said due to increase in import costs and the decrease in the amount of remittances, the amount of foreign exchange reserves has decreased, but there is no shortage of reserve in the country. In response to another question of Jatiya Party MP Mashiur Rahman Ranga on gold smuggling, the finance minister said in the last five years (2019-2023), 1408 kg of gold has been recovered by customs at airport. The estimated value of which is Tk1,226 croresHe said 1272.10 kg of recovered gold has been deposited with the Bangladesh Bank. While replying to a query of AL MP Nurunnabi Chowdhury from Bhola-3, the finance minister said the number of tax identification number holders in the country till September this year is 93.46 lakh. He said as per Income Tax Act-2023 spot tax assessment has been abolished. In response to a question of AL MP Mahfuzur Rahman from Chattogram-3, the finance minister said till June 2023, the number of individual taxpayers in the country is 89.53 lakh. In response to a question from Jatiya Party MP Syed Abu Hussain, the finance minister said Ukraine-Russia war and war-related sanctions have resulted in increased inflation, reduced foreign exchange reserves and some pressure on currency exchange rates. The government has taken various steps to reduce inflation and restructure reserves, he said.