Savar tragedy is a fresh blow to economy: Atiur
Finance Minister AMA Muhith touches a screen to launch an automation system of Bangladesh Bank at a function at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka yesterday. Photo:Focus Bangla
After a series of shutdowns and incidents of political violence, the Savar tragedy deals yet another blow to the economy, Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman said yesterday.
“The irreparable losses to the garment sector caused by some irresponsible and greedy people cannot be accepted,” he said.
Rahman spoke at a function to unveil a bunch of initiatives that the central bank has taken for banking sector automation and financial inclusion in the last four years.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith was also present at the function at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was scheduled to be the chief guest at the programme but she could not make it due to "unavoidable circumstances".
The BB governor said the people responsible for the tragedy should be punished duly.
The government, the central bank and financial institutions will come forward unitedly to do whatever is necessary to ensure good governance and compliance in the garment sector, Rahman said.
Earlier the finance minister launched three books published by the central bank, including Changed Bangladesh Bank: Four years of progress.
The minister also inaugurated the automation process of the central bank and laid the foundation stone of a "currency museum" at the BB headquarters.
Muhith said financial inclusion has become very popular in the global financial sector.
The BB has also been playing an important role in financial inclusion, the minister said.
Muhith also said one of the main targets of the present government is to turn Bangladesh into a poverty-free, digital Bangladesh by 2021.
The BB governor said, “Our developmental initiatives over the past four years have maintained continuity with the earlier programmes initiated by my predecessors."
The central bank's developmental initiatives are yielding positive results, he said, adding that more than 13 million new bank accounts were opened for underprivileged people.
The monetary policies have started giving positive outcomes, inflation is coming down, and interest rate is showing a downtrend, Rahman said.
BB deputy governors SK Sur Chowdhury and Nazneen Sultana also spoke.
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