Lifestyle Desk: Once upon a time, zamindars had great prestige in the country. No one could afford to walk around the zamindar's house with shoes on. It was not possible to pass by the zamindarbari with an umbrella in the hot sun or in the torrential rain.

Take

The word of the zamindar's mouth was the law. But the amount of money that any zamindar saw in his life was more than the poor beggar of that time had. During that period, it was difficult to meet a millionaire even by visiting a few police stations or sub-districts. Now the neighborhoods are full of millionaires, yet they are mostly destitute.

They do not have the power to get anything they want. The gap between the money of that time and the purchasing power of the large denomination notes of that time has made the distance between the millionaires of today and the money holders of those days equal to the stars. Even after the independence of the country, a maund of rice was available for 20 taka, chocolate for 1 paise. In 1974, when the price of rice rose to 40 rupees, there was an outcry across the country.

Despite this, when Dhani's parents were going to school, they used to get 50 paise to 1 taka from their parents for tiffin. With it, ice cream, chocolate, jhalmuri and other items were used. Poor children did not get a single penny some days.

Back then middle class used to pay 5 paisa, 10 paisa for children's tiffin. Today's generation dismisses these things as fairy tales. Because today's beggars are reluctant to take less than two rupees. Buses that carry passengers at least twice per kilometer also have 'minimum fare Tk 5' written on them in bold letters.

Even if the distance is half a kilometer, the helpers of the so-called sitting buses do not have the habit of charging the fare below 10 rupees. The report prepared by the finance department calculated the value of the Bangladeshi currency from the fiscal year 1974-1975 on the basis of GDP deflator and said, 'The purchasing power of one taka in the fiscal year 1974-1975 is equal to the purchasing power of 12 taka 45 paise in 2014.

In other words, the purchasing power of one rupee in 2014 is equal to the purchasing power of 8 paise in 1974-75. That is, what could be bought for one taka in 1974-75, now one has to spend 12 taka 45 paisa to buy that product. Or the product which is now available for one rupee was bought for 8 paisa in 1974-75. According to the report of the Finance Department, inflation has been at an annual average rate of 7.3 percent from 1974-75 to the present time.

It can be easily guessed, with the flow of time, the purchasing power of government notes and coins (from one paisa to two taka) is decreasing. If this situation continues, the coins introduced by the government commemorating the heritage of the People's Republic of Bangladesh will gradually disappear from the market.

On the basis of this report, Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith said last January that there will be no one and two taka notes and coins. The minimum government currency will be five rupees. However, the finance minister later withdrew from that position in the face of criticism.

Rafiqul Islam, who works in a private company, said that according to the finance department, the picture of the decline in the value of money has actually been more. Highlighting his own experience, he said, in 1985, the bus fare from Dhaka's Sobhan Bagh to Gulistan was 50 paisa. At that time, five hodjis could be bought for five paisa. A simple ice cream was also available for five paise. Even the lowest quality ice cream made in the village ice cream is now not available for less than one taka.

And today's hajmi has increased in quality compared to then, and the price has also increased from one paisa to one taka. In 1985, Rafiqul Islam spent a total of 12 taka to travel from Sobhan Bagh in Dhaka to his village home in Gazipur. After going to Gulistan from Sobhan Bagh for 50 paise, Ghorashal used to take a bus from there with a fare of 10 taka. Later, Kapasia used to sit on the most luxurious seat on the second floor of the launch and pay a fare of one and a half taka.

Now to go to that Kapasia, he no longer has to board the launch, but has to pay a fare of 170 rupees. The price of that 'precious' money of those days has reduced day by day and has become an address in the era of fairy tales. Money, which was once worth so much, in the course of time, no product can be obtained with it.

Only a few seconds are available to talk from mobile phone companies. Presently, the value of the paisa lies in the provision of '1 paisa per second' for mobile phone calls. However, the government is not worried about reducing the purchasing power of money or one or two rupees. Rather, the finance department has become worried as the share of government currency has decreased compared to these bank notes.

As per Bangladesh Bank Order 1972, government currency up to two taka coins or two taka notes. From five taka notes and coins to 1000 taka notes of Bangladesh Bank. After independence, the share of government currency in the total money market has decreased day by day. From the fiscal year 1974-75 to November 2014, the supply of money of the country in Balwari and Maswari, the rate of government currency in the total supply of money, the total amount of money in circulation in the market in 1974-75 was Tk 316 crore 80 lakhs. Until last November, its amount has increased 306 times to 97 thousand 742 crore taka.

Among these, Bangladesh Bank's notes and coins have increased 340 times to Tk 96 thousand 281 crores. But government notes and coins have not increased compared to this. In 1974-75, the value of government currency in notes and coins in circulation was Tk 339 million, which increased 23 times to Tk 7936 million by September last year. And in 1974-75, the ratio of government currency to GDP was 27.27 percent, considering bank currency supply was 2.69 percent and budget ratio was 3.21 percent. By the end of the 2013-2014 financial year, it had come down to 0.6 percent of GDP, 0.11 percent considering the large money supply and 0.31 percent compared to the budget size.
Up to 2010, the finance department said, "Until 2010 (no updated data), the ratio of government currency to the total currency in circulation in the market was less than that of Bangladesh only in Egypt and Pakistan." In other countries this ratio is higher than Bangladesh. On January 2, 2015, this rate in India stood at 1.36 percent. However, on November 30, 2014, this ratio was 83 percent in Bangladesh.

In this situation, the finance department is going to declare five taka coins or notes as government currency instead of bank notes to maintain the existence of government currency in the currency market. According to the officials of the department, the monuments of the government's heritage will soon disappear from the currency market. To counter this situation, it is being considered to introduce notes or coins up to the denomination of five rupees under the ownership of the government.

This web series crosses all boundaries, watch alone

If this happens, the share of government currency in the total currency in the currency market will increase from 83 percent to one and a half percent. And if the government currency is five taka, the government's debt to Bangladesh Bank will be reduced by about taka 790 crore. However, the government will not cancel the five taka notes and coins currently in circulation in the market. Rather, these old notes and coins will be replaced by new notes and coins introduced by the government. As a result, the total money supply in the country will remain unchanged. There will be no risk of inflation.