Transparency International Bangladesh on Friday expressed deep concern over the recent restrictions on journalists’ entry to Bangladesh Bank.
The TIB expressed the concern in a statement urging the central bank authorities to immediately withdraw the restrictions on the media terming the restrictions as ‘unprecedented’ obstacles to media professionals collecting banking and financial sector information in the public interest.
Citing media reports, the TIB said that journalists had been facing obstacles for almost more than a month in accessing the Bangladesh Bank to collect information.
Even the help of the governor was sought to solve the problem, but there were no positive results, the TIB added.
The central bank’s move is an ‘unethical and arbitrary’ barrier to ensure the legal rights of the people, said TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman.
He said, ‘What message does the top leadership of BB want to send to everyone through the decision to stop the free flow of information when the banking sector is plagued by various crises, including bad loans, financial fraud, and a lack of overall good governance?’
Iftekharuzzaman wanted to know if this was an initiative to hide information about their failure to establish good governance in the banking sector, or an attempt to protect interests of those responsible for the crisis in this sector.
He also wanted to know whether Bangladesh Bank is working to ensure the continued protection of the unscrupulous people involved in irregularities including loan default, forgery, and money laundering in the sector. He said that the bank was taking such steps to hide the fact that the central bank policies and leadership were held hostages in the hands of those circles.
The TIB believes that when the question of trust in the banking sector is swirling in the public mind or when the central bank itself is visibly confused about bank mergers in the name of protecting the interests of bank customers, privacy can invite greater danger, said the TIB executive director.
‘It is clear that Bangladesh Bank is unwilling to consider the matter of giving journalists the opportunity to collect information as they create bureaucratic systems in the name of providing training to journalists about the sensitivity of information in the banking sector,’ Iftekharuzzaman said.
Bangladesh Bank authorities should remember that they are supposed to play the role of protecting the public interest, not the interests of loan defaulters or troublemakers in the banking sector, he added.
