Bangladesh Bank (BB) officers have expressed frustration over no visible progress in two key financial-sector reforms - the proposed amendment to the Bangladesh Bank Order 1972 and the Bank Company Act.
Like many others, members of the BB Officers' Welfare Council thought the post-uprising interim government, which committed to bringing fundamental changes in the financial sector, would be able to sustainably heal many macroeconomic ills by ensuring full autonomy of the central bank and tightening provisions in the existing Bank Company Act to avert possible malpractice attempts in lending operations.
Despite making necessary changes in the drafts of the two reform initiatives, prepared by central bankers before being sent to the ministry concerned for the next course of action, the developments seem to have remained stuck at the finance ministry for several months, causing concerns as only a few days of the government's tenure are left.
The council leaders expressed their dissatisfaction over the matter at a press conference at the Bangladesh Bank headquarters on Thursday.
Nawshad Mustafa, a council leader and a Bangladesh Bank director of the SME & Special Programmes Department, said the central bank governor was macro-economically very sound and accepted by all quarters, while the finance adviser was one of the successful BB governors.
On the other hand, the chief adviser of the interim government was a Nobel laureate and one of the most globally recognised individuals, he said.
"So, we had huge expectations from this team that such important changes would be approved. But that has not happened yet. We are frustrated to some extent, but are still hopeful that the interim government will take quick measures to get things done in the next few days," he added.
The council's General Secretary Golam Mostafa Srabon said the full autonomy of the banking regulator was required to bring discipline in the finance sector by preventing the possible scope for political intervention in BB regulations, which had been observed in many cases in the past.
Talking about the current structure of the board of directors at the BB, he said the board lacked professional directors and was dominated by government representatives, although there was only one government representative with no voting right when the Bangladesh Bank Order was passed in 1972.
Citing the example of Sri Lanka, he said the Sri Lankan government after the latest uprising removed the lone government representative from their central bank's board of directors.
The council also called for resolving the existing stalemate in the recruitment and promotion of Bangladesh Bank officials and cancelling the appointments of advisers, consultants, and officials hired on a contractual basis without proper evaluation and transparent hiring processes.
It further demanded institutional protection for officials who faced harassment while performing their official duties.
Besides, it urged the governor to devote active time and attention to matters related to the Bangladesh Bank's policies and interests and to refrain from making inconsistent or arbitrary statements in the media regarding the central bank's policies and practices. Banking Regulation and Policy Department Director Md Bayazid Sarker and the council's president AKM Masum Billah also spoke at the event.
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