No pressure felt in discharging duties under interim govt: BB governor
He also noted that despite submitting recommendations for several important laws to the government, they were not implemented.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur has said he did not face any pressure from the government or any quarter while discharging his duties during the tenure of the interim government.
"During my time as governor under the interim government, I did not feel any kind of pressure from any side. Rather, there was operational freedom and no interference whatsoever. This can be stated without hesitation," the governor said while speaking to journalists at the announcement of the monetary policy today (9 February).
However, he noted that despite submitting recommendations for several important laws to the government, they were not implemented. One of them was the Bangladesh Bank Order.
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"In October, the Bangladesh Bank Order was sent to the Ministry of Finance for finalisation. Even though there was sufficient time, it could not be implemented. This has to be considered a failure, because it should have been done," he said.
He added that the second key legislation was the Bank Company Act. "This is also a very important law. We believed the current government would be able to implement it, but that did not happen. Therefore, we hope that whichever government comes next will honour the financial development commitments made in their election manifesto," he said.
The governor said these issues would be placed before the next government, stressing that implementation is necessary in the national interest.
"If these reforms are not carried out, the misuse and plundering of the banking sector that we saw in the past could return. Implementing the Bank Company Order as a permanent shield is essential. Central banks around the world are protected in this manner," he added.
Ahsan H Mansur also distinguished political and central banking priorities. "Politicians want to boost the economy quickly in the short term, whereas the responsibility of a central bank is to ensure sustainable development. This is what we see in the United States. If political pressure does not come onto the central bank, economic discipline will not be lost," he said.
He cautioned that while discipline has not yet been fully restored, losing it again would be unfortunate.
Referring to foreign exchange management, the governor said the central bank had purchased $4.5 billion from the market, injecting more than Tk50,000 crore into the economy.
"Through these purchases, reserves have been built up. Are we dependent on the IMF? No. Even in reserve building, the central bank is not dependent on the IMF," he said.
