Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Thursday urged the government to make the draft of the Bank Company (Amendment) Act, 2023 – prepared in response to long-standing demands for reforms of Bangladesh's banking sector – open to the public.
Despite the media being informed on March 28 that the draft amendment law has been approved by the Cabinet, questions have surfaced about whether it protects the interest of the people as a whole, including an effective way to overcome the widely discussed challenges of the bank sector, said the organization in a press release on Thursday.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said: "When the draft of the law was approved by the Cabinet about a month ago, we expected that the draft would be published for the views and suggestions of the stakeholders concerned as per the practice followed by the government."
But the draft has not yet been made public, he added.
“Even media reports show that when the IMF's visiting mission asked to see the draft, the Financial Institutions Division expressed its inability to do so on the grounds of privacy protection, which has shocked us.
“Therefore, we urge the government to publish the draft immediately and create adequate opportunities to take the views of the stakeholders concerned.”
