Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur said on Wednesday (September 4) that money was looted from eight commercial banks of the country in various ways.

“Depositors keep their deposits in these banks being allured by high rate of interest. However, the central bank will look after the interests of depositors. There is nothing to be panicked. Please don’t rush to these banks to draw your money,” he said while addressing a press conference after attending a meeting with the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB) on Wednesday.

The governor said no bank will be given liquidity support by printing taka afresh. However, the banks will receive taka through inter-bank lending against the guarantee of the central bank. The banks will be able to return the money to depositors in phases. Cooperation from the international agencies have been sought to recover the money laundered from these banks.

Held at the Bangladesh Bank conference room, Governor Ahsan H Mansur said at the press conference that huge amount of take was siphoned off from the eight banks of the country. As a result, these banks are now facing liquidity crisis. Some Tk 2 lakh crore will be required to provide liquidity support to those banks. But, the central bank will no longer extend liquidity support printing taka afresh. Inflation will rise due to the flow of cash to the market if taka is printed.

The governor also requested the depositors not to draw huge amount cash from banks at a time. “Please draw the minimum amount which you need to meet your family expenses. Give us some time. We expect that the banks will turn around again. One thing we want to make clear that the Bangladesh’s banking sector will not be affected for these eight banks. We hope that this sector will turn around soon,” he said.