Within days of the interim government taking charge, Ahsan H Mansoor took charge as the Governor of Bangladesh Bank. A former senior official of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), his appointment was widely welcomed across the board. At that time, the economy stood perilously on the edge of an abyss. The financial sector in particular was close to recession.
Foreign exchange reserves, which had peaked at US$48 billion in August 2023, had fallen to an alarming low of US$20 billion by August 5, 2024, amid widespread alleged looting. The exchange rate was to decline sharply from 87 taka per US dollar in 2022 to 125 taka by the same date in 2024. Out of 61 banks in the country, 11 banks were on the verge of death. bankruptcy
Even the country’s largest private commercial bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh, was among those that faltered. Ownership of seven banks, including Islami Bank, was transferred to controversial Chattogram-based businessman S Alam, who was later accused by a government-appointed white paper committee of misappropriating nearly Tk 2 trillion (200,000 crore) and laundering money abroad.