The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has recommended for auditing the central bank.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the committee, headed by Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, yesterday. It followed a remark on Bangladesh Bank by Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraful Islam.
“Bangladesh Bank and the whole finance ministry, including finance minister, are suffering from jaundice (a distorted judgment). They don’t have any outlook,” said Syed Ashraf in Kishoreganj Saturday.
At a meeting with businessmen, he criticised high interest rate of bank lending.
The decision also came on the heel of the central bank’s recent appointment of an observer to Farmers Bank on finding irregularities in loan disbursement and lack of corporate governance.
Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir is chairman of the Farmers Bank, a new generation bank.
“We have asked the audit office to submit an audit report on the central bank that came into discussion after Syed Ashraf’s comment,” said a source in the committee.
On January 13, Bangladesh Bank appointed ANM Abul Kashem, general manager at the central bank’s Foreign Exchange Investment Department as Farmers Bank’s observer after allegation of corruption.
Of nine new generation banks that obtained licence in 2013, Farmers Bank got an observer for the first time to be closely watched.
The central bank investigation into the Farmers Bank found irregularities in loan disbursement amounting to Tk400 crore.
The bank’s top officials were found involved in the anomalies, which raised concerns for Bangladesh Bank.