‘No comment’ was the reply from Khosru when asked about BB shakeup

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on Thursday repeatedly declined to comment on the abrupt change in leadership at the central bank.

"No comment," he said repeatedly when asked by reporters about the appointment of the new governor at the central bank.

The new governor, Md Mostaqur Rahman, met the minister at his office in the Bangladesh Secretariat on the day, but he also refrained from speaking to waiting journalists.

Asked whether the unceremonious removal of former governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur had been the right step, Mr Chowdhury said: "I have nothing to say."

When pressed again on whether such a removal had been necessary, the finance minister once more declined to comment.

In an abrupt reshuffle at the top of the central bank, the government on Wednesday appointed accountant and businessman Md Mostaqur Rahman as the new governor of Bangladesh Bank.

Prior to the appointment, his predecessor Dr Ahsan H Mansur was given an unceremonious departure after his contract was terminated, amid protests by a section of central bank officials outside.

syful-islam@outlook.com