US$ 100 million worth of foreign reserves of the Bangladesh Bank, deposited with the US central bank, was stolen by a racket of hackers

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Bangladesh Bank didn't inform him about the hacking into part of its foreign reserves kept with the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the United States. According to sources, some US$ 100 million worth of foreign reserves of the Bangladesh Bank, deposited with the US central bank, was stolen by a racket of hackers of Chinese origin and transferred the money to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Asked whether he knew anything about the incident that had taken place early last month, the minister replied in the negative. "No, I did not have any report from the central bank in this regard," he said while talking to a group of journalists who came to his residence on Monday afternoon to cover a meeting with World Bank (WB) vice-president for South Asia Annette Dixon. "This is very unusual situation," said the custodian of the exchequer, but he declined to make any statement on the issue. He, however, acknowledged that he had seen reports on the issue in newspapers. "I cannot say anything about this at the moment," he told the reporters. The central bank is desperately trying to recover the money. Bangladesh Bank usually keeps some 20-25 per cent of its reserves with central banks of various developed counties, including the USA and the UK, and invests some parts of it in bonds, gold and various financial institutions. Mr Muhith also informed the WB delegation about the international digital heist as they seemed to be very inquisitive when the finance minister was talking to the press after the meeting with the Bank delegates. The finance minister was also flanked by the World Bank's new country director, Qimiao Fan, who took over charge of Dhaka office Monday. WB vice-president Annette Dixon also talked to the press about Bangladesh's economic affairs and cooperation between the country and the global multilateral development financier.    The WB top executive praised Bangladesh's development progress over the years and expressed their willingness to work together with the government to help the country grow faster and bring prosperity to all citizens. "Bangladesh is making very good progress in many development outcome," said Dixon. WB assistance in international knowledge and financing, she said, will help Bangladesh make considerable progress in reducing poverty and improving people's standard of living. Dixon also expressed her satisfaction over the progress of the projects funded both by the government and the Bank. The WB vice-president also introduced the new country director, Qimiao Fan, to the journalists. A Chinese national, Fan joined the World Bank in 1991 and held leadership positions in different countries and regions of the world. Prior to taking up his current assignment, Fan served as the Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. From 1998 to 2002, he took leave from the World Bank to work in the private sector in various senior executive positions in China. mzrbd@yahoo.com