Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Some 150 officials of Bangladesh Bank enjoyed foreign tours during the second quarter (October- December) of the current fiscal year.
They made these foreign trips to participate in training, workshop, seminar and symposiums.
Governor, deputy governors, executive directors, general managers, deputy general managers, joint directors and deputy directors are among the officials who went abroad during the period, shows a recent BB statistics.
During the period, the BB Governor visited USA, Singapore and Malaysia to join the IMF-World Bank meeting, roundtable conference on “Fintech and Financial Inclusion” and the 31st meeting of the council of the Islamic Financial Services Board and Islamic Financial Stability Forum held in Washington DC (October 11-15), Singapore city (November 16) and Kuala Lumpur (Decembe-11). Deputy Governor-1 Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hasan visited Austria and Malaysia to join the international summit and conference in Vienna (November 6-10) and Kuala Lumpur (November 18-23) while Deputy Governor-2 SK Sur Chowdhury visited the Netherlands to attend the “Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) Supervisory Board” meeting held in Amsterdam on December 14.
“Foreign trips by BB high-ups are becoming routine now-a-days. Even they are joining low profile meetings and seminars where junior officers can be assigned,” a BB official told The New Nation wishing not to be named.
He said foreign trips remained a talking point for many of the BB officials for last several years as our top bosses were making overseas tours so frequently due to absence of a proper guideline in this regard.
“The frequency of foreign travel by BB top brasses and other officials has increased dramatically since Dr Atiur Rahman became the Governor. The trend is still going on at the cost of national exchequer,” he added.
He said, “One of our Deputy Governor is leading among the BB officials making one foreign trip on an average every month. He may be following our former governor who made trips so frequently.”
In the fiscal year (2017-18), the central bank has allocated Tk 11 crore for the purpose of foreign trips and trainings of its officials.
The official also alleged that BB high-ups is always selecting the same officials for foreign trips depriving efficient officers who need training abroad to improve skills in their respective fields.
