Newly-appointed Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor Fazle Kabir yesterday said his first priority will be to recover its $81mn stolen money.
“My another duty will be to strengthen our IT (information technology) security system to prevent the recurrence of such hacking incident,’’ said the new governor of Bangladesh’s central bank.
“I’ll also try to restore confidence among officials of the Bangladesh Bank and the country’s people. I’ll also try to bring dynamism in their working,” the governor added.
Responding to another question, he said the plans undertaken by the former governor will continue.
Kabir, a former finance secretary, was appointed as the central bank governor following the resignation of Atiur Rahman on March 15 amid a row over the heist of $101mn from the Bangladesh Bank’s account with the US Federal Reserve Bank of
New York.
Prior to his new appointment, he was the chairman of state-owned Sonali Bank.
The Bangladesh Bank has introduced double-check, especially in overseas payment, to guard against any error or forgery of the type that shook
the central bank.
Official sources said the system has been introduced as a failsafe measure.
Under this system, officials of the central bank have already started issuing manual instructions over the telephone besides placing online orders (through SWIFT network) for transfer of its funds deposited with different central banks, including the US Fed.
“It’s a temporary measure, however,” said one official. But he did not mention any
timeframe.