Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh Bank typically maintains regular office hours since its inception, but Fazle Kabir had changed this practice for his own interest after assuming the role of central bank’s governor in mid-2016.
Mr. Kabir officially took the helm of the country’s central bank on March 20 in 2016, with a primary focus on recovering the US$81 million stolen from the bank's foreign exchange reserves and restoring the confidence of central bankers after the heist.
"My first priority will be to recover the $81 million that was stolen from our foreign exchange reserve with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York," Mr. Kabir told reporters upon taking charge of the central bank governor.
All of his efforts went in vain, as Mr. Kabir could not recover the stolen reserve money from the Philippines.
Moreover, he began staying at the office until 9:00pm, deviating from official norms of the BB.
It was reported that Mr Kabir used to begin the main and important tasks after praying his Maghrib prayers and which were continued till 9:00pm.
Resentment brewed over the night-office-timing, as a section of central bank’s officials who came to their office in time had to stay three more hours at office.
But, they never ever able to express their discontent due to the position of the governor
It was also learned that the January 5 in 2017 was an unusual day for the central bank employees, particularly for a group in a specific department who were instructed to remain at the office until a special assignment was completed.
Meanwhile, after a hiatus of over seven years, Abdul Mannan, the former managing director of Islami Bank, in a webinar yesterday claimed that he was forced to resign from his post on January 5 in 2017.
According to media reports, S Alam Group created pressure on Mr. Mannan to step down from the Shariah-based bank after members of a security agency allegedly made him hostage.
In the webinar, Mr. Mannan also revealed that on the very day he was taken as hostage and forced to resign at gunpoint while on the other hand, many top officials of the central bank had stayed late into the night to complete the procedure of his resignation.
The allegations which the former MD of the Islami Bank was made, is considered as a grave one in the history of banking sector of the country, and those should be addressed immediately to access whether Fazle Kabir had weakened the good governance of the BB.
BBN/SSR/AD