Lawmakers of both the ruling and the opposition parties heavily criticised Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday for his budget proposal of legalising laundered money for a 7 percent tax.

Instead of giving facilities to the money launderers, the government should take legal actions against them, said Jatiya Party MP Pir Fazlur Rahman.

"Money laundering has increased in the country… Thousands of crores of taka have been smuggled out of this country which the finance minister could not stop," he said.

If laundered money is allowed to return to the country legally, then there is no need for a money laundering law in Bangladesh, he further said.

"This [amnesty] will encourage people to amass money through illegal means," he added.

Meanwhile, another JP MP Shameem Haider Patwary asked the finance minister to rethink the matter.

This amnesty should not be availed if there is any specific allegation of money laundering, he said.

Such an amnesty was given in India but that failed to bring any success, he added.

Gonoforum MP Mokabbir Khan demanded punishment of the top 12 corrupts in the country.

"By doing this, the government will be able to bring down 50 percent corruption in the country. If not, I will resign from the parliament," he said.

Pran Gopal Dutta, MP of the ruling Awami League, also asked the finance minister to revise the proposal.

"There is no positive impact of this amnesty. If the money launderers were honest, they would have kept the money in the country," he said.