Staff Reporter :
Journalists have registered a protest as Bangladesh Bank (BB) has imposed an unwritten ban on their entrance to the central bank.
Journalists are unable to frequently enter Bangladesh Bank, and for the first time, such a restriction has been imposed.
The agitated journalists took positions in front of the central bank.
In the wake of the situation, Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) president Mohammad Refayet Ullah Mirdha and general secretary Abul Kashem held a meeting with Bangladesh Bank governor Abdur Rouf Talukder at around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday. But no solution emerged from the meeting.
After the meeting, Bangladesh Bank executive director Mezbaul Haque said, “The central bank has decided that journalists will not be able to enter without an entrance pass.
If an official provides a pass, journalists would be able to contact that official only. Journalists would not be able to freely visit any department of Bangladesh Bank.”
Agitated journalists alleged the current governor has taken this decision to hide loan defaulters and top businessmen involved in irregularities.
Economic reporters have also claimed that as Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf has failed to take effective measures to control inflation and curb the volatility in the dollar market, such restrictions were imposed.
“As these issues are being published by the media, he has imposed strict restrictions on journalists’ entry to the Bangladesh Bank,” an economic correspondent of a private news outlet said on condition of anonymity.
Through such a decision, the real character of the governor is being exposed, the journalists said, adding that such a decision has not been taken in the past since the establishment of Bangladesh Bank.
