Staff Correspondent »
Dhaka, Sept 16: Bangladesh Bank’s Executive Director and former spokesperson, Md. Mezbaul Haque, has resigned from his post, marking the first voluntary departure of a regular central bank official since the fall of the Awami League government last year.
According to central bank sources, Haque submitted his resignation on Tuesday, citing personal reasons. Confirming the development, Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan told reporters, “He has submitted his resignation letter mentioning personal grounds.”
The resignation comes amid ongoing reshuffles in the central bank following the August 5, 2024 ouster of the Awami League government through a mass uprising. In the immediate aftermath, then-Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, two deputy governors, the head of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), and the governor’s policy adviser—mostly contractual appointees—were all forced to step down. Subsequently, the interim government appointed economist Ahsan H. Mansur as the new governor.
Mezbaul Haque, however, was a career central banker. He joined Bangladesh Bank in 1993 as an Assistant Director and over three decades served in key departments, including Payment Systems, IT, and Offsite Supervision. In December 2022, he was promoted to Executive Director and on the same day appointed as the central bank’s spokesperson. During his tenure, he played a crucial role in implementing several digital transaction initiatives introduced under the previous government.
Yet his career was not free of controversy. During the 2016 Bangladesh Bank reserve heist, his name surfaced in some media reports, alleging that he had allowed foreign experts access to sensitive IT facilities in the aftermath of the cyber theft—raising questions about transparency in the investigation. Haque was also known to be close to influential quarters in the former ruling party, including Sheikh Hasina’s son and ICT adviser, Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Following the political changeover, questions were raised within the interim administration about his continuation in Dhaka headquarters, leading to his transfer to the Rajshahi office earlier this year.
By resigning now, Haque becomes the first senior career officer to exit voluntarily amid the ongoing restructuring of the central bank. His departure signals the broader shake-up within Bangladesh Bank, where political affiliations and controversial legacies of the past are being reassessed under the interim administration.