Dhaka, May 2 -- At least Tk 5 trillion was "moved out of the country officially and unofficially" in the past 10 years of the Awami League rule, alleges Liberation War Affairs Minister Ahmed Azam Khan.

Addressing an aid distribution event at the Sakhipur Upazila Council in Tangail on Saturday, he said the government's treasury was "completely empty" when the Awami League left power.

"Later,the interim administration ran the government like a pauper for 18 months. Whenwe assumed office, the situation at every level of the government was the worst."

Recounting the 1974 famine when thousands of people died with another hundreds of thousands of survivors suffering immensely, the minister said the situation started to "improve significantly...