Journalists have been barred from entering the Bangladesh Bank building to collect information, which has been going on for months.
In protest on Thursday, more than half a hundred reporters working in various media held a sit-in program in front of the main building of the Central Bank.
During the programme, two journalists led by an organization of Economy Beat reporters met with Governor Abdur Rauf Talukder, but the issue was not resolved. The ban on free access to journalists remains in place.
Journalists say that the ban on the entry of journalists was given months ago by the governor’s orders amid the irregularities in the banking sector, corruption, loan scams, weak bank mergers, non-receipt of customer deposits from some financial institutions and Bangladesh Bank’s supervisory activities.
President of Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) Mohammad Refayet Ullah Mirdha and General Secretary Abul Kashem went to meet the governor to demand the lifting of the ban on the stay program from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm on Thursday.
After about an hour of discussion, the governor rejected the proposal of reporters to freely enter Bangladesh Bank as before.
Later, Refait Ullah told reporters, “I have asked the governor to refrain from taking any action that hinders the free flow of information.” Banning access of journalists to the central bank hinders the sharing of accurate information. We have told the governor to give free access to Bangladesh Bank as before.
Regarding the Governor’s decision to allow journalists to enter, Mehbaul Haque, Executive Director and Spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, said, “The decision is that journalists can only go to the spokesperson with specific permission (entry pass) of the bank. However, if an official gives a pass to journalists, they can only go to that official. But as before, they will not be able to freely enter any department of the central bank.
Earlier, journalists could enter the central bank with a special ‘pass’ after signing the register book kept in the reception section on the ground floor of all the buildings. The temporary pass had to be returned at the time of issue.
However, the issuance of this pass has been stopped for the past one month on the orders of the governor. Journalists complain that the official they are talking to is also being monitored. The four deputy governors, executive director, director and other officials at all levels have been given unwritten instructions not to talk to journalists.
Earlier in 2015, the access of journalists to the central bank was restricted for a few days after the theft of Bangladesh Bank’s reserves was revealed. Then the central bank withdrew from that position in the face of protests.
ERF said in a statement regarding the meeting with the governor this afternoon, reporters have been freely collecting information from Bangladesh Bank for the past 53 years. They were never barred from entering it. Suddenly blocking the entry of reporters increases the risk of misreporting about the banking sector, which is not desired by any party.
A committee headed by the President of the ERF has been constituted to determine the steps to be taken to ensure unhindered access to the central bank. The organization will take further steps as per the recommendations of this committee, the statement said.
