FINANCE Minister AMA Muhith’s statement in the Jatiya Sangsad Tuesday describing how 27 bank officials, 56 business organizations and eight surveyor firms were instrumental in swindling Tk 4,500 crore from BASIC Bank has come as a reminder how our banking system is open to organized robberies by people having access to powerful quarters of the government. The Finance Minister described the scams replying the question of a lawmaker but one would only wonder why lawmakers did not want to know what the minister himself did all these years when money was systematically removed and senior management officials and audit firms did everything to cover the scams.
We know that the Finance Minister is personally an honest man but it can’t be denied that he has utterly failed to protect the bank and not only BASIC Bank, more such banks from organized swindlers’ hand. Under his nose Sonali Bank alone lost Tk 3,600 crore to a single business firm and it is known to all that an Adviser to Prime Minister had the hands behind it. Other state-owned banks also lost huge money in bad loans to faulty borrowers and many of them are now trying to survive on regular recapitalization from budgetary fund. The Finance Minister owes an explanation to the nation how he has managed the sector and why he failed to protect it from powerful quarters. Even by doubling the salary of government servants without weighing its impact on common people and the private sector, the Finance Minister has showed his utter helplessness to powerful lobbies within the government.
In case of BASIC Bank he has squarely blamed the then chairman of the bank Abdul Hye Bacchu for the scams along with senior bank officials including managing director, deputy managing directors, general managers and others. But it is no secret that it was the Finance Minister himself who approved the extension of service of the bank chairman at least on two occasions staggering over six years despite hefty media reports on his loan scams. Bangladesh Bank had also appointed an observer to the bank to improve its loan performance but it served no purpose as the chairman remained untouchable over the years. Now the lengthy statement on the scam without least success on recovery of the lost money makes no sense.
In our view leadership equally involves accountability and the Finance Minister must set an example by accepting the failure. Because the banking sector suffered the worst over the past several years when, apart from swindling of bank money loan rescheduling to big business houses, apparently on political consideration also made the state-owned banks severely sick. There must be new leadership dynamism to save the sector from the brink.
