Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said he received no application from the Padma Bank Limited for its merger plan with any state-owned bank.
“I received no application from Padma Bank so far,” he said while talking to reporters after a meeting of the cabinet committee on public purchase (CCPP) on Wednesday.
Mustafa Kamal, however, said now all the state-owned banks like Janata, Sonali and Rupali have certain stakes in the Padma Bank’s ownership structure.
He also said a draft has been prepared for framing a law on the merger and acquisition. “Hopefully, the law will be enacted soon to facilitate the process of merger and acquisition. Once the law is enacted, we can consider the proposal of the Padma Bank.”
Kamal said the owners of the Padma Bank failed to run the bank due to corruption by a section of people. “Punitive measures were taken against those people. Now they are in jail after trial,” he said adding, “What else can the government do?
Responding to another question, the finance minister said Business Research International Corporation Inc. (BRIC), a Panama-based company, which was given the approval to set up a 50MW solar power plant in Terkhada in Khulna, is not a tainted company like those the names of which were published in Panama Papers.
He said the company in Joint Venture with Hero Future Energies Asia Pte. Ltd, Singapore will set up the plant on its own and the government does not need to invest any amount in the project.
State-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will purchase electricity over 20 years at a total cost of Tk 1328.90 crore.
The finance minister said this company may be based in Panama, but it is not among those companies which were published by Panama Papers for their corruption.
“Panama Papers companies and a Panama-based company are not the same,” he said.
Source: United News of Bangladesh