Finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Tuesday said that he had directed the National Board of Revenue to transfer about 40 cars imported duty-free by members of parliament under the ousted Awami League government to the public transport pool.
The directive has been given recently after the government decision to auction the cars did not bring any desired results, he said after a meeting of the advisory council committee on government purchase at the secretariat in the capital Dhaka.
The prices of cars quoted by bidders during the auction were far below the market price of Tk 8-9 crore, he said, adding that many even quoted Tk 10 lakh.
These cars were imported under duty-free privileges by members of parliament of the AL government, but those were not released from customs following the ouster of the AL in a mass uprising on august 5, 2024.
Replying to a question whether the interim government would purchase vehicles for the cabinet of the new government after the general elections in February next year, the finance minister answered in the negative.
He, however, said that there was a proposal from the public administration ministry to buy about 300 utility vehicles to be used in the next general elections.
The field-level officers cannot perform duty with unfit vehicles, he said.
The finance adviser while focusing on his visit to Tokyo said that the recruitment of about 1 lakh workers from Bangladesh by Japan in the next five years should be made properly.
鈥楯apan is a choosy country,鈥� he said, adding that skills and language efficiency were musts.
The finance adviser said that the process of giving training, now being provided by some private agencies, should be expanded.
Earlier, the committee approved two separate proposals for importing two cargoes of liquefied natural gas and five separate proposals to import about 1.4 lakh tonnes of fertiliser and 10,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid.
The approval will allow Petrobangla under the Energy and Mineral Resources Division to procure one cargo of LNG from M/S Aramco Trading Singapore Pte Limited, Singapore at a cost of Tk聽497.91 crore and the other cargo from M/S Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore at a cost of Tk聽502.95 crore.
Besides, the committee also approved another proposal of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division to procure consultancy services under the technical assistance for carbon abatement of the oil and gas value chain project from Carbon Limits AS, Norway at a cost of Tk聽50.52 crore.
The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation will buy 30,000 tonnes of TSP from Morocco, 40,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser from Canadian Commercial Corporation and 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser from Morocco.
Under two other proposals submitted by the industries ministry, the government will procure 30,000 tonnes of granular urea from Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Limited for Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation and 10,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid.
