The country’s financial situation is fragile and any further deterioration in the economy will affect everyone, opposition lawmaker Saiful Alam Khan Milon said on Saturday.
“The financial sector, particularly the banking sector, is facing many irregularities. The government should tread cautiously,” he told reporters at the Parliament complex after a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Finance.
“As an opposition party, our job is to guide the government towards the welfare of the people. We have done that and will continue to do so,” said Milon, a Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker and member of the committee.
According to a Parliament Secretariat press release, the meeting held detailed discussions on the Bank Resolution (Amendment) Bill. After thorough scrutiny and review, the committee recommended that the bill be passed by Parliament in an amended form.
The meeting was chaired by committee chairman Mushfiqur Rahman. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Chief Whip Md Nurul Islam Moni, Moinul Islam Khan, Shahadat Hossain, Saiful Alam Khan Milon and Syed Zainul Abedin attended the meeting.
Milon said the meeting’s agenda was limited to the proposal to repeal Section 18(A) of the Bank Resolution Act.
“We had already raised this demand in Parliament. We had said then that there was no need to introduce the Bank Resolution Act 2026. We had called for the repeal of Section 18(A), and now the government has brought a proposal to repeal it,” he said.
The provision had drawn criticism inside and outside Parliament after it was incorporated into the law concerning bank resolution. Opposition lawmakers had objected to its inclusion on the day the legislation was passed.
The provision was subsequently criticised by various quarters, including development partners. The Cabinet approved a proposal to repeal Section 18(A) at its meeting on August 10.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury placed the amendment bill in Parliament on September 3. It was then sent to the parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny and submission of its report within two working days.
Milon said the controversial provision had been widely discussed in the media and, to his knowledge, its amendment was also linked to conditions associated with loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“As far as I understand, our finance minister will travel abroad within the next couple of days, which is why this is being done in haste,” he said.
Milon also raised concerns over developments involving the banking sector, including the case relating to shares held by the S. Alam Group in Islami Bank.
He alleged that pressure had been exerted through a Bangladesh Bank deputy governor to change the lawyer representing a party in the High Court case.
“They have already changed the lawyer. The current chairman and board of Islami Bank are centred around one person. We have also spoken to him. The lawyer was changed against everyone’s wishes,” he alleged.
Milon also called for a comprehensive review of the entire Bank Resolution Act 2026, particularly the process through which five Islamic banks have been merged.
He said international standards require the assets and liabilities of banks to be assessed by an international institution before or during a merger process.
“The interim government did not do that. It should be done while there is still time and opportunity; otherwise, there will be problems,” he said.
Milon said the merged banks were facing serious difficulties and that many people, including relatives of lawmakers and members of the ruling party, had money deposited with those banks.