Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has sought innovative advice from experts to increase expatriate income.
He asked for this advice while addressing the chief guest at the PFM Summit-2023 at Sonargaon Hotel on Monday (September 25).
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said that specific reasons should be found as to why remittances are not increasing. A solution must be found. That is why we seek innovative advice from those who are economists, who are experts in this sector. If you propose or suggest reforms to fix the remittance flow, we will accept it.
He said, currently many people are going out of the country. But remittances are not increasing in that proportion. So the government is looking for structural reforms to increase expatriate income. That is why I call upon the concerned to come forward with innovative suggestions. If the expatriate income is increased, all the ongoing problems of the economy can be solved.
The finance minister also said that now the youth are settling abroad with scholarships. Workers are also going abroad legally. But remittances are not coming to the country in that proportion. If remittances come in the same way as before, then economic problems will be solved.
The workshop was chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Khairuzzaman Majumdar. World Bank's Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Abdullaye Sek and South Asia Practice Manager of World Bank's Governance Global Practice Hishas Weli were special guests.
Earlier, a panel discussion on restructuring of public financial management took place around 11 am. The negotiators were five former finance secretaries. They are - Md. Zakir Ahmed Khan, Dr. Mohammad Tarek, Md. Fazle Kabir, Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Abdur Rauf Talukder.