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In a sudden and surprising move, the government has changed the leadership of Bangladesh Bank (BB) with appointing Md. Mostaqur Rahman as the new governor of the central bank.

The appointment of 14th governor of the banking regulator was done though removing Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur amid protest by the central bank officers.

With the latest appointment by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, the country gets a businessman as the central bank governor for the first time of its history.

Amid briefings by the protesting BB officers and the governor on the day, the ministry issued two notifications to resolve the tension in the central bank. One notification said the remaining tenure of Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur as governor had been cancelled in the public interest, with the order taking immediate effect.

Another notification announced the appointment of Mostaqur Rahman as governor for a term of four years from the date of his joining. The order requires him to relinquish all professional affiliations with other institutions and organizations before assuming office and will take effect immediately.

Mostaqur Rahman is a cost and management accountant (FCMA) and a businessman by profession. He is the managing director of Hera Sweaters located in Narayanganj.

Born in Dhaka in 1966, Mr. Rahman completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees in accounting from University of Dhaka. He later obtained the FCMA qualification from the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh.

An entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience, the newly appointed governor has been involved in corporate finance, exports, institutional governance, and financial management. In addition to the ready-made garments sector, he also has business interests in real estate.

Mr. Rahman is a member of several trade bodies, including the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) and the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI). He has served on various committees of these organisations and has prior experience working with the Chittagong Stock Exchange Limited.

Following the July-August uprising in 2024 that toppled the Sheikh Hasina’s governing regime, the interim government appointed Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur as the central bank governor to replace the then governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, who did not attend office after the mass-uprising, on 14 August 2024.

Nine days after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government came to power, Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur’s appointment was cancelled.

In the previous 13 governors, eight were bureaucrats, two economists, two commercial bankers and one academician.

Asked on what grounds the governor was changed, the Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said there was nothing to be taken into consideration in this case.

“A new government has come. The new government has priorities. Naturally, the changes are talking place, not only in central bank, changes are also coming in many places and that will continue,” he said.

He said the changes will be made wherever necessary to implement the new government’s programmes, preferences, and ideas.

Outgoing governor of the central bank Dr Ahsan H Mansur said the government could have followed a different path to remove him from the post instead of creating the mobocracy like situation.

“It could have been otherwise, but its okay,” he told the Financial Express on Wednesday night over telephone.

He said: “Whatever Allah does, is for the welfare of the creatures. I wish both the government and the new governor success,” said Mr Mansur.