Sunday | 12 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Sunday | 12 January 2025 | Epaper

“Money, money, money...in the rich man’s world”

Published : Sunday, 23 June, 2019 at 12:00 AM  Count : 434
Mahbubar Rahman
Mahbubar Rahman

Mahbubar Rahman

Money is sweeter than honey:
A widely spoken adage says that money is sweeter than honey. Some people even go to the extent of saying that money is the second god which is widely adorned by the human race irrespective of colours they bear white, black, brown or yellow. History revealing the emergence of money in the present day context in transacting business is not that long. In ancient time, different valuable objects played the role of money in transactions. Different metallic coins which include gold coins had the long record in serving as money. Gold still plays a decisive role in determining the standard of monitory reserve system in the vaults and coffers of the government.

Although the requirement of money for moderate and decent living is not that soaring, but the lust and greed for its possession in infinite quantity knows no bound. It is too little to say that limit for possessing money is the sky.
Through an enduring process of transformation from one stage to another over the years, money is now visibly seen in the shape of paper notes and coins of different denominations. Evolution of banking system which had originated in Italy a few hundred years ago by a section of money-lender seating in 'banko' (bench) in the road side of market place gave an institutional relevance of money in transacting business.

Unending urge of humans to possess money: Urge for possessing money in abundance through illegal means and machination is now soaring and a highly talked about subject of the day, although humans' instincts and tendency toward such an urge is perhaps as old as civilization. Money lending through the practice of usury has been widely in practice for long. Money tastes sweeter at time of receiving but it soon turns bitter in taste at the time of paying back. Modern money lenders in re-incarnated shape of Kabuliwala of the by-gone days sometime go berserk in recovering the loan through inhuman practice when the loans get stuck-up. It brings unbearable pity and misery to the borrower which includes loss of ancestral homestead and cattle-head when he fails to pay back the loan in time.

A pound of flesh for default: Shakespearian drama "Merchant of Venice" suggest a burning example of cruelty when the money lender shylock acrimoniously claimed a pound of flesh from Antonio who failed to pay back the loan in time.
Shakespearian Shylock confined himself only in the drama, but modern day Shylocks practice usury in different names and shapes with sharp knife concealed under the sleeves are often visible all around to suck the blood with flesh from the body of the borrows in case the borrower fail to fulfil the imposed terms of lending and borrowing.

Banking practice is so widespread in the modern world that without which monetary transactions including transaction of business cannot be imagined. Digitalization of banking system facilitated the clients to deriving benefits within hours and minutes no matter how distantly the parties are placed from each other.

Liberalization of banking policies: Liberalization of banking policies supplements business to flourish and makes the life style easy. In modern banking system banks lend money on manifold accounts including on personal account known as Personal Loan and Credit Card facilities on credibility of person to person basis virtually without any collateral security. Banks charge high interest on such nature of loan account and get fabulously benefitted as long as the payback mechanism works successfully. As the bright side of the coin has equally a dark side, therefore, such random delivery of unsecured loan brings about disaster to both the lender and the borrower on occasions.
 
Global recession of   2011-12 stands as an example where apart from colossal corporate business house debacles, borrowers in small scale in the form of Personal Loan and Credit Card contributed adversely in creating a seismic jolt in the US money market including micro economic system. The Obama administration had to come forward with billions of dollar to salvage the corporate business house and overall economy from collapse with tax payer's money. In so called free market economy without proper leash in hand,  the US government had to act as saviour with the spirit of socialistic pattern of economic system which is now redundant in the Western world and regarded as villainous pattern as western propaganda machines suggest.

Sometimes money tastes bitter:  On some occasions, money may equally give bitter and deadly taste. Money wears two faces, white and black particularly in the developing countries of the world. Holders of black money represent a very powerful lobby in the society. Even the long hands of law do not easily reach the necks of black money holder at time it warrants.

Sometimes governments of the sovereign state are visibly seen to be benign and comprise with the black money holders in facilitating them whitening the black money with lucrative package of nominal taxes, Government of Bangladesh offered, on many occasions in the past, such packages of nominal taxation for whitening black money with unfortunately no substantial visible outcome of the government's such move.

Follies of free market economic system:  Without having right preparation to adopt an absolutely free market economic system, Bangladesh with 7 per cent GDP growth rate has been preaching and practicing the system toward achieving economic goal. Hallmark, Destiny, Share Market and Bangladesh Bank's money plundering by hacker's scams where billions of taka has been siphoned off by the ominous hands stand a clear testimony to the fact that free market economic order without state control in some form or other is not the panacea for economic emancipation.

Similarly, providing the customers with Credit Card facilities with lucrative package is not also the sign of economic prosperity where the recipients of such facilities cither have no intention to service the loan or not capable of doing so because of inadequate income earnings despite their good intention.
Recovery of loan by rowdyism: Money which tastes sweeter than honey soon turns into poison with bitter taste to digest. The lender who treated the customer of such small loan or Credit Card as 'Valued Customer' soon start hounding after them in recovering the stuck-up amount. In some cases bankers of global trademarks with snobbish outfit blended with outlandish words act out of the way in resorting to rowdyism by hiring so called third party agent for recovering the loan without pursuing due process of law, which is the only remedy for recovery as prescribed by Bangladesh Bank and the government.

I am sure that the banks particularly the ones with foreign trademark no matter how smart garb they are fitted in, have not been given license to harass the borrowers by employing a band of hooligans in the name of a third party agent toward recovering the loan, such vile acts of high handedness and vandalism without walking the legal path is a clear violation of banking norms and rule and obviously tantamount, to punishable offence.

Bangladesh Bank and the government should constantly monitor the situation so that the human right is not abused without following the country's legal system. Defaulting bank loan in no way be encouraged. So far a colossal amount exceeding Tk. 5 lac crore has been defaulted with different banks.

Government's bailout package for loan defaulters: Bangladesh bank has recently prescribed certain procedures like rescheduling of loan with easy and workable term to give a breathing space and a way out to the defaulting borrowers. Bangladesh Bank's recent bailout package for 'good' defaulting borrowers has been hung in the judicial process arguing that such package will further encourage defaulting loans in greater magnitude with no tangible solution towards recovery. It is further argued that it will equally give rise to hey-wild tendency of borrowing money from banks with no intention to return the borrowed money by unscrupulous borrowers. There are, of course, exceptions where some good borrowers, despite their good intentions to return bank loan, fail to act positively because of debacles in business or some other unforeseen reasons and ultimately become loan defaulters.
 
Standing as deterrent by the civil society activists, to government's proposed bailout package on soft term will not equally bring any positive result towards recovery of defaulted loans in the given socio-political situation where heavy weight loan defaulters are, this way or other, happily perched in the sweet homes of both ruling political party are their archrival opposition political parties with formidable power and strength, while the sword of Damocles will continue to hang on the heads of loan defaulters in small scale, as is feared. In her recent statement, honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has, however, emphasized that no loan defaulters, whoever they are, will be spared. Time will only tell us how big fishes of defaulting loan will come within the net of government's punitive measures.

Outlandish attitude of some banks:  It is observed with great concern that some banks operating in Bangladesh with an alien insignia tend to defy the rules, which is not in their favour with the plea that such re-scheduling process to give relief to the borrowers is not compatible to their self manufactured system. I wonder if those banks are existing outside the purview of Bangladesh Banks set rules and norms and consider themselves 'aristocrat' in the given situation they operate within, while other local banks, providing equal facilities to the customers adhere to the principle of Bangladesh Bank and running business successfully toward attaining their goal.

Mentioning ABBA's memorable song' 'Money, Money, Money ...' I would like to re-emphasis that money is always bright and sunny in the rich men's world and because of the sweetness and brightness of money, human's urge to run after money is unending. Humans go mad in possessing money by whatsoever means like by hard work, legally, illegally, plundering and looting etc, in infinite volume. An escort free system is bound to suffer a nose-dive fall at the end of the day.

Any indiscriminate lending and borrowing process gives rise to corruption and chaos in the society and breed neo-Shylocks with an urge, grinning their teeth of lust to consume a pound of flesh from the borrowers. Concerned leadership in the state machinery should not give a blind eye and deaf ear to the warning bell that is ringing and as such may deeply ponder over the situation before suffering still a greater financial scam than ever before.

The writer is former Civil Servant


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