The government is set to form a special unit to gather information on the amount siphoned out of Bangladesh and scrutinise the income of dual citizens as part of its crackdown on money launderers.

Money laundering is a serious risk to economic progress, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said in parliament yesterday.

To curb money laundering, the National Board of Revenue's intelligence and investigation are being backed by internal and international information, he added.At present, the government has no mechanism in place to find out the amount of money that is being laundered every year.

In 2014, Tk 4,283 crore (506 million Swiss franc) was siphoned out of the country, up 36 percent year-on-year, according to the latest data from the Swiss National Bank.

The Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based research organisation, said illicit outflows of funds from Bangladesh equal 38.5 percent of the combined official development assistance and foreign investment the country received between 2008 and 2012.

On average, $1.31 billion was funneled out of Bangladesh every year between 2003 and 2012.