Finance Minister AMA Muhith has alleged that the Bangladesh Bank lied to the visiting delegation of the International Monetary Fund about its autonomy.
The IMF thought that the government had not given the “proper” autonomy to the central bank and it now wanted an action plan on giving the full autonomy, Muhith told reporters after the wrap-up meeting with the IMF ECF mission at his Secretariat office yesterday.
The three-member IMF review mission led by Extended Credit Facility programme chief Rodrigo Cubero left Dhaka yesterday.
“Bangladesh Bank’s statement on autonomy is totally a lie,” Muhith said.
He pointed out that the Bangladesh Bank was enjoying full autonomy except for appointing and dismissing the members of the board of directors of the state-owned banks.
The government appoints the directors of the 11 state-owned banks but takes opinions from the Bangladesh Bank before recruiting; it fires the directors on its own.