Black money whitening opportunity conflicts with July movement: CPD

The Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) believes that the proposal to retain the opportunity to whiten black money in the budget conflicts with the July movement.

In response to the proposed budget, the organization's executive director Dr. Fahmida Khatun said that the July movement was for a society without discrimination. 

This proposal is extremely contradictory to the budget's commitment to establish a society without discrimination.

She said this at the CPD's media briefing on the national budget 2025-26 on Tuesday morning.

She said, “The opportunity to whiten black money has been retained in the budget. This has hurt the morals of those who regularly pay taxes ethically. This will create inequality with those who earn legally. Moreover, this step does not seem to generate much revenue for the government. If this opportunity is given, it will become impossible for middle and lower class people to buy plots or flats. This will result in inequality in the society.”

The executive director of CPD said, “The budget has proposed to legalise undisclosed income. If you want to buy a building or apartment, you can use it by showing the undisclosed income and paying a special tax at an increased rate.” 

“But we have always said that the proposal to turn black money into white should be stopped completely. It is not morally acceptable, we are not supporting it,” said Fahmida Khatun.

She went on saying, “The value of the housing sector is very high. This is because of this undisclosed money. This money increases the price in that sector. As a result, it becomes almost impossible for those who earn legally to buy an apartment. As a result, there is discrimination in the society. The July movement was for a society without discrimination. This proposal is completely contradictory to the budget's commitment to establish a society without discrimination.”