Bangladesh Bank imposed entry restriction to hide weakness: journalists

The entry restriction imposed on journalists by the Bangladesh Bank showcases the anarchy which the country's banking sector is now suffering from, journalist leaders said today.

The banking watchdog imposed the restriction to hide the inability of the current governor, they said in a discussion organised by and at the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) in Dhaka.

In the discussion on the entry restriction, Shyamal Dutta, general secretary of the National Press Club, raised question on a business group, which currently owns seven to eight banks and has recently taken charge of another bank. "How is this possible?"

Instead of taking steps on this chaos, Bangladesh Bank is concentrating more on creating obstacles for journalists, he said.

The ban was slapped on journalists for hiding the weakness and inability of the central bank governor, said Sohel Haider Chowdhury, president of the Dhaka Union of Journalists.

The current governor is yet to show success in any index during his time, he added.

Bangladesh Bank should provide journalists with free access to its offices, said Sajjad Alam Khan Topu, former general secretary of the ERF.

The central bank is actually harming itself by imposing the restriction, said Farid Hossain, editor of UNB.

"We (the journalists) will start assuming that there is something wrong when the Bangladesh Bank will try to hide information instead of sharing it with journalists," said Syed Shukur Ali Shuvo, president of Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU).

Ruhul Amin Gazi, president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), stressed the need for the journalists' community to show their professional unity to protest against the restriction.

The restriction came as part of Bangladesh Bank's efforts to hide different scams, including reserve heist and theft of gold from BB's vault, said Quader Gani Chowdhury, general secretary of the BFUJ.

Shamsul Huq Zahid, editor of the Financial Express and founding convener of ERF; Mohiuddin Ahmed, DRU general secretary, along with SM Rashidul Islam and Ziaur Rahman, former general secretaries of the ERF, also spoke at the event.

Obaidullah Rony, special reporter of the Daily Samakal, presented a paper at the discussion on the current situation of the country's banking sector.

Mohammad Refayet Ullah Mirdha, president of the ERF, presided over the discussion moderated by Abul Kashem, its general secretary.