BB paints a rosy picture

Ironic is the word that comes to mind when we look at the report published recently by Bangladesh Bank (BB) titled "Role of Bangladesh Bank in the govt success for the last 10 years." That BB has managed to completely ignore mentioning the repeated scams, the central bank heist and failure to rein in the culture of financial misconduct by bank managements, is quite an eye-opener. To the uninitiated reader, the report will come across as one of glorious success! Not only is this report misleading but is also unethical because by definition, the central bank is an autonomous body and by that count alone, it shouldn't be partaking in any form of electoral campaign on behalf of the government.

The reality is that the BB has not been allowed to play its function fully over the last decade; rather it served a subservient role under the ministry of finance. When the financial scams hit the state-owned commercial banks, it was expected that BB would play a strong role in stamping out the irregularities. That never happened. Not only that, the central bank went along with policy decisions taken elsewhere and complied with the amendment to the Bank Company Act that allowed for four members of the same family to sit on the board of a private bank. This decision and indecision in other matters have, according to banking sector experts, weakened the financial sector considerably. Today, the sector is mired in controversy and that BB chose to wilfully ignore mentioning all irregularities in the self-laudatory report has undermined the autonomous role that the central bank should have played.