Speaking about financing in the industrial sector, the finance minister said banks can provide working capital and loans for purchasing houses or cars. Yet they are also extending loans for projects worth Tk 20 billion. If one bank cannot finance such a project alone, four banks come together to do so. He described this as inefficiency. Questioning why the government should finance everything, he said: “Why should the government bear the cost of Bangladesh Biman purchasing 12 aircraft? Biman is an enterprise. It can raise funds from the capital market.”

For large-scale financing, the minister advised businesses to rely more on the capital market. He said: “Instead of taking Tk 20 billion in loans from banks at high interest, companies should raise funds from the capital market. I understand the capital market has collapsed. But it will be revived very quickly. If money is raised from the capital market, no interest has to be paid until the company starts earning profits. Once it earns, dividends can be paid. Then there is the bond market, from which loans can be obtained at lower interest rates than banks. This is how we will reduce the cost of doing business.”

Discussing good governance versus reform, the finance minister said: “It’s somewhat like the question of whether the egg came first or the chicken. But we are moving toward comprehensive reforms. Businesses will no longer need 13 separate approvals. Even if approvals are required, they will come from a single place within a fixed timeframe.”

Mentioning the customs department and ports, he added: “Everything must move toward automation. I have seen that costs start increasing from Chattogram Port itself. Payments have to be made here and there, this fee and that fee — and eventually prices rise by 10 per cent. Our goal is to reduce the overall cost of doing business.”