Government committed to fight flow of dirty money

The government is fully committed to combating the flow of dirty money that propagates financial crime, according to a central bank official.
Speaking at a learning event ‘Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AML/TF) in Nepal’ for young entrepreneurs, organised by the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) Nepal in Kathmandu today, deputy director of Financial Information Unit under the central bank Hari Kumar Nepal said that government was fully committed to control any form of financial crime including money laundering and tax evasion.
The government is mulling over introducing more stringent rules in the near future to minimise chances of money laundering, he said, adding that the central bank will soon have regulations like prohibition of cash transaction higher than Rs 1 million and prohibit use of savings account for business transactions. "We hope that this will contribute in controlling money laundering."
Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing is no longer the issue of Nepal only, it has drawn attention of governments all over the world and other international organisations,” he said, adding that the government was serious on the issue and that it will leave no stone unturned to eradicate such practices.
He also said that money laundering has worsened not only the business sector, but also politics and administration. The event basically focused on demarcation between money laundering and tax evasion, legal frameworks and contribution of business sector to control it.
“Surveys show that more than 3.6 per cent of global GDP is earned through criminal activities,” Nepal said, adding, "If we add amount of tax evasion to it, the result is shockingly high. But one has to be aware of the fact that each and every business started with black money is a crime. And, one cannot get peace of mind with black money."
He also said that tax evasion supported by corruption is the biggest challenge of Nepal.
“It starts right from a general landlord to show low rental charge to evade tax," Nepal added. "So, it is very much difficult to bring this all in track."
Stating that though the country still lacks stringent rules to tackle financial crimes, Nepal said it is unlikely for anyone engaged in such illegal activities to go scot-free.
The event was followed by an interaction session where young entrepreneurs and EO members shared their view on how business sector can work together with government to implement the measures to control financial crimes.