Restrictions to enter central bank in whose interest, ask newspersons

Whose interest is the governor of the Bangladesh Bank protecting by imposing restrictions on the entry of newspersons at the central bank, asked the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) Monday.

The ERF leaders during a media briefing held today at the forum's office in Purana Paltan of the capital, warned of a tougher movement if the entry restrictions are not lifted.

The platform also protested against false and negative propaganda being run by the BB deputy governor and other high officials on the entry of newspersons at the central bank.

ERF president Refayet Ullah Mirdha and general secretary Abul Kashem spoke at the media briefing.

In his written speech, Refayet Ullah Mirdha  said the incumbent government has been talking about free flow of information. But going against the 53-year practice, the Bangladesh Bank suddenly imposed restrictions on the entry of newspersons within the central bank from 21 March. This goes against the stance of the government.

He further said the ERF leaders met the central bank governor and sent letters twice to him and adopted other ways requesting him to resolve the crisis. Though two months have passed since then, false information are being spread instead of solving the problem.

“I want to clarify one thing. Earlier, newspersons could enter the Bangladesh Bank showing their ID cards. The Bangladesh Bank used to issue temporary passes which are closed now. This sudden imposition of restrictions has created scopes of proliferation of various types of rumours. Questions have also been raised whether any mishap has taken place at the central bank,” said Refayet Ullah Mirdha.

ERF demanded unobstructed entry of newspersons at the central bank like before by taking temporary passes.

Speaking about the questions on whether the newspersons of many other countries could enter the central bank, the ERF president said, “We must know whether the entry of journalists at the central banks of other countries is at all necessary? The websites of the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England, Reserve Bank of India and the central banks of other countries are very rich in information. Alongside updating the information of all the indices, those banks regularly publish on their websites the meeting minutes of the board of directors and punitive actions against various banks; they also respond fast if any journalist asks them any question.”

Drawing a comparison between the central bank of Bangladesh and other countries, Refayet Ullah further said, “The good governance in the economy of those countries is high. Hiding any information of irregularities and corruption in those countries is extremely tough due to their systemic procedure. Apart from this, as far as we know, no person involved in taking loans through fake identity, defaulter, money launderer or in any other type of irregularity and corruption can enter the central bank in those countries.”

He continued, “Whether any attempt is going on to hide some information by imposing entry restrictions only for journalists while keeping the door open to all others, this is the question.”

Speaking about the programmes if the demands are not met, ERF general secretary Abul Kashem told the media if the restriction is not lifted before the next national budget, they will organise sit-ins and rallies in front of the central bank after the unveiling of the budget.

He further said they have decided to boycott the programmes of the central bank governor, deputy governor and the spokesperson and not to publish any fake news and propaganda of Bangladesh Bank.

Abul Kashem requested everyone to comply with the decision.

Addressing the media conference, the ERF president further said different economists and independent researchers highlighted the shambolic condition of the financial sector as the central bank lost its autonomy.

He said everyone knows about the central bank’s failure in curbing inflation rate, their weakness in managing the forex reserve, fragility of the supervision system and failure to maintain continuity in policies due to pressure from various quarters.

Refayet Ullah Mirdha also said everyone knows about the unrest due to hastiness regarding bank mergers and the liquidity crisis in the banking sector. Instead of resolving the crisis, restrictions have been imposed on the entry of newspersons; this has intensified the panic among the people. Any attempt to block the flow of information could be extremely dangerous for the country; this is also unwarranted.