Governor reveals annual cost of printing money

About 20,000 crore taka is spent every year on printing, storing, transporting and distributing cash in Bangladesh. To reduce this huge cost, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur has urged to increase cashless transactions. He said these things at a dialogue titled ‘365 Days of the Interim Government’ organized by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at a hotel in Gulshan, the capital, on Sunday (August 10). Highlighting the importance of smartphones for digital financial inclusion, the governor said, ‘Currently, smartphones are essential for financial transactions, bill payments or accessing any online service.’ He said that work is underway to bring good quality smartphones between 6,000 and 7,000 taka to the market, so that 100% of the people come under this facility. He also mentioned the need to reduce the price of internet and improve the quality of service to meet this goal. Regarding urbanization and housing, the governor said, “The country still needs millions of new houses. It is a reality that people will not return to villages. Therefore, affordable housing plans must be taken. The use of land held by banks in partnership with developers is also being considered.” CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun presented the keynote speech at the dialogue. She said, “In one year, the interim government has taken some initiatives, including reforms in the banking sector, which has kept the export sector in good condition and helped avoid a major economic disaster. However, foreign investment is not coming, employment is not being created, and revenue collection is not increasing – which is worrying.” Also present in the discussion were Brigadier General (retired) M Sakhawat Hossain, advisor to the interim government, BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, CPB general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince, among others.