Staff Correspondent

The Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr. Ahsan H Mansur, has urged the public to maintain confidence in the nation’s banking sector, highlighting significant ongoing reforms aimed at stabilizing and improving financial institutions.

In a message sent directly to the mobile phones of bank customers on Thursday, Dr. Mansur emphasized that the reform activities within the banking sector are progressing rapidly. Reforms in the banking sector have begun and are turning around fast. “Be confident and conduct normal banking activities,” the governor assured in his brief SMS.

A newly formed task force has been established to evaluate the current financial health of the banking sector. This task force will undertake a comprehensive assessment of distressed assets, major risks, and key economic indicators of weaker banks. It will also scrutinize the actual credit status, provision shortfalls, liquidity conditions, net capital, and the exact value of assets, with a focus on identifying and segregating bad assets from troubled banks.

According to a press release, the task force will also make critical recommendations to develop a more robust regulatory framework. These recommendations will aim to limit political and corporate influence in banks’ decision-making processes and pursue ownership reforms as part of broader efforts to strengthen bank governance and risk management, thereby enhancing crisis resilience.

Furthermore, the task force will propose necessary reforms in financial sector laws, including the Bank Company Act and the Bangladesh Bank Order. It will also address regulations concerning asset management companies, bank acquisitions, and mergers. One of the anticipated outcomes of these reforms is the issuance of a comprehensive white paper on the banking sector.