Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Tuesday told parliament that media reports on the amount of money deposited by Bangladeshi nationals with Swiss banks were an exaggeration.

 “I won’t deny that money has been laundered. The amount is too little.

But the way the media reported was exaggerated,” he said.

 “The issue of money laundering is not a serious matter.  It is a part of transactions and account of wealth,” the finance minister told the House.

 Media reports mentioned that deposits by Bangladeshis with Switzerland’s banks rose by about 20 percent in 2016.

 The amount rose to 661.96 million Swiss francs or Tk 55.86 billion in 2016 from 550.85 million francs in the previous year, according to data released by Swiss National Bank.

 The Zurich-based SNB published the data in its annual report titled ‘Banks in Switzerland 2016’.

 The money deposited by Bangladeshis with Swiss banks totalled around 506.05m francs in 2014.

 The total funds held by all foreign clients of Swiss banks also rose to 1.42 trillion francs in 2016 from 1.41 trillion francs a year ago.

 “We do have enough businesses in Switzerland.  The banking system in Switzerland is much developed. As a result, transactions of country’s businesses were made through Swiss banks,” he said.

 The minister said the media widely published incidents of money laundering to Swiss banks.

 “Giving importance to the matter, Bangladesh Bank collected additional information and prepared a report based on it,” he said.

 Analysing the reports of 2013-14, 2014 and 2016, it was observed that some transactions were made due to the country’s businesses with Switzerland.

 “The analysis of Bangladesh Bank shows that the businesses through banks between Bangladesh and Switzerland increased significantly. Practically it is not a money laundering. I believe the explanation will help reduce the misunderstanding,” he said.