Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has expressed deep dismay over media reports that the government is actively considering a provision to legalise black money in the forthcoming 2026-2027 budget through an “unconditional amnesty” that would prevent questioning by authorities, calling it unconstitutional and corruption-enabling.
In a statement issued on Thursday, TIB said extending such a corruption-facilitating opportunity under the pretexts of revitalising the stagnant housing sector, boosting industrial investment, and accelerating economic growth is self-defeating for the government, amounting to normalising corruption and irregularity under state backing.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said that since independence, nearly every government has perpetuated the provision for legalising “undisclosed income” in direct breach of Article 20(2) of the Constitution.
“This practice assumed a new dimension during the previous authoritarian regime, when it was institutionalised in an overtly corruption-inducing manner,” he said, adding that the net effect has been the progressive entrenchment of a culture of tax evasion and the systematic discouragement of honest, law-abiding taxpayers.
“Extending the facility to legalise black money is equivalent to granting state-sponsored institutional legitimacy to corruption, which is placing the current government in a deeply controversial position,” Iftekharuzzaman said.
Referring to Clause 67 of the National July Charter 2025, under which BNP and all other political parties pledged full implementation of the constitutional obligation to eliminate opportunities for unearned income, the TIB chief said BNP has pledged in its electoral manifesto to “make no compromise with corruption”.
“Yet media reports indicate that, under the influence of the housing sector lobby, the forthcoming budget is set to include a provision for legalising black money through ‘complete immunity’ and entirely avoiding any inquiry by the ACC, the National Board of Revenue, or any other state authority,” he said.
He noted that Recommendation 3 of the ACC Reform Commission report explicitly calls for the permanent abolition of the facility to legalise black money, a position to which BNP and all other political parties have equally agreed.
Regarding the reported plan to repatriate laundered money through a general amnesty, Iftekharuzzaman said if the government is pursuing this as a genuine effort to bring back assets belonging to Bangladeshi citizens from abroad, it may be considered.
However, those involved in laundering illegally obtained funds must not be permitted to avail themselves of this facility, and those against whom legal proceedings are already underway must be held to account without exception.
“The government has already succeeded in setting a number of positive and encouraging precedents across its broader activities. It is expected that the government will this time demonstrate the validity of its own stated position against corruption by refraining from introducing such an unconstitutional, discriminatory, and corruption-facilitating provision for legalising black money,” he added.
