The cabinet today in principle approved the draft of "The Bangladesh Bank (Amendment) Act, 2020" by abolishing the 'proviso' of the 65-year age limit for the governor of the central bank.
The approval came at the regular cabinet meeting held at the cabinet room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam told a press briefing after the meeting.
He said according to Article 10 of The Bangladesh Bank Order, 1972 (President's Order No. 127 of 1972) the tenure of the central bank governor is four years and he or she could be given reappointment.
"But the 'proviso' of that clause mentioned that no person can hold the post of the governor after completion of 65 years of their age," Islam said.
The cabinet secretary said an experienced person is appointed in the financial sector as the governor. "But it's not possible to appoint an efficient and experienced person in the financial sector after they are 65 as the current law has fixed the age limit at 65 years," he said.
Islam said it's even not possible to reappoint an experienced person who performed the responsibility of the governor at the Bangladesh Bank if his age crossed 65.
In this connection, he mentioned that in case of the neighbouring countries India and Sri Lanka the age limit has not been mentioned regarding the appointment of central bank governors.
"In this circumstances, an initiative has been taken to scrap the proviso of clause…related to the age limit of the central bank governor in public interest," the cabinet secretary added.
