April 26, 2009

Dr. Atiur Rahman made Bangladesh Bank governor

Dr. Atiur Rahman, a former BIDS research fellow who now runs an NGO and teaches development studies at Dhaka University, would be the governor of Bangladesh Bank.

When asked to confirm, the finance minister, AMA Muhith, did not give a direct reply. "Wait until tomorrow," a smiling Muhith told bdnews24.com senior correspondent Abdur Rahim Harmachi as he left his secretariat office Sunday.

An aide to the finance minister, speaking anonymously, told bdnews24.com that Muhith had "already congratulated Atiur Rahman on his appointment".

The decision is to come just days before the incumbent governor, Salehuddin Ahmed, ends his four-year tenure on Apr 30. It would also put to rest speculation about an extension to Salehuddin's tenure in the context of the on-ongoing global recession.

Atiur Rahman, who served as a director of Bangladesh's largest Sonali Bank and then chairman of the state-owned Janata Bank, will now have to deal with monetary economics as central bank supremo.

Atiur's research focussed more on poverty, and the most acclaimed included work on char dwellers and poverty alleviation.

His appointment would create a unique situation at the central bank—the governor and all three deputy governors (DGs) coming from same class of the DU economics department.

The three DGs—Nazrul Huda, Ziual Hasan Siddiqui and Murshid Kuli Khan—and their likely boss Atiur Rahman did their Masters as students of the 1973-4 batch and actually came out in 1976.

Salehuddin, a former civil service officer, was appointed to the top job by the BNP government on May 1, 2005 when his predecessor Fakhruddin Ahmed saw out his central bank contract.

The two—both Dhaka University economics graduates—swapped their positions. Fakhruddin, who was later made head of the army-installed caretaker government in 2007, took up Salehuddin's job of managing director at Palli Karma Shayahak Foundation, the government's micro-credit lending arm.

Salehuddin had earlier served as director general of NGO Bureau before landing the PKSF job.

Source: bdnews24.com, April 26, 2009

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