Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - An emergency board of directors meeting of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) which was scheduled to be held on Tuesday for taking necessary measures after reviewing the overall situation on the cyber hacking incident was suspended abruptly.
"The central bank of Bangladesh has postponed Tuesday's urgent meeting suddenly," a senior BB official confirmed to the BBN Monday evening.
In a sudden development, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith is scheduled to address a press briefing over the cyber hacking incident at 11:00am on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Dr Atiur Rahman, the governor of Bangladesh Bank, who was on an official visit to India, returned home this afternoon.
The finance minister is expected to brief the media about the previous steps and next courses of actions on the cyber hacking that becomes the hot topic at town.
Earlier on Sunday, a Bangladesh Bank official told the BBN that they have taken preparations to arrange the urgent meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) of the Ministry of Finance Secretary M. Aslam Alam earlier requested the central bank to arrange an emergency board meeting in this connection.
The issue was discussed at the board of directors meeting held on March 9, a deputy governor of the BB told BBN.
The deputy governor also said the BB’s has given its nod to hire more experts, if necessary, for recovering the stolen money from its foreign exchange reserve account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The board also approved the appointment IT consultant Rakesh Asthana, who was recruited recently to ensure cyber security system of the country’s central bank, according to the deputy governor.
The central bank of Bangladesh has able to recover nearly US$20 million from Sri Lanka out of $101 million taken away by cyber hackers from its foreign exchange reserve with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently.
Suspected Chinese-origin cybercriminals hacked in the forex reserves in the BB’s account with the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York on February 5.
Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) is now working with its counterpart –the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) of the Philippines – actively to recover the rest of stolen fund, another central banker told the BBN.
BBN/SSR/AD