Published: 10:23 PM, 21 October 2026
Move to appoint private sector officials to lead state-owned banks triggers dissatisfaction
The government is now considering appointments of senior executives from private commercial banks as managing director in the state-owned commercial banks where the posts of top executives have fallen vacant.
The move comes after the Ministry of Finance opened the scope for appointing executives from outside the state-owned banks under a recently issued policy, sources said.
According to the sources, the financial institutions division (FID) under the ministry of finance is busy in making a list of potential candidates to be placed in the special committee led by the finance minister for final approval.
When contacted, FID additional secretary (Central and Commercial Bank Wing) Md. Azimuddin Biswas said the government can appoint anyone from existing pool of executives in state-owned banks, retired bankers or executives from the private sector banks.
“There is no bar or restriction that senior executives from privately-operated banks cannot be appointed,” he said, adding that a high-powered special committee led by finance minister will finalise the names before sending it to the central bank for its clearance.
The government reportedly believes that bringing in executives from the private sector could improve corporate governance in state-owned banks and help reduce irregularities and corruption with bringing back vibrancy.
However, the possible appointments have triggered dissatisfaction among employees at different levels of state-owned banks, who fear that such move could effectively block the career progression of deputy managing directors (DMDs) and other senior officials who have spent years working in the state-owned banking sector and traditionally aspire to become MDs.
Bankers, speaking on condition of anonymity, argued that some private-sector bank executives had failed to prevent their institutions from falling into serious financial distress. Several private banks are currently undergoing merger processes amid mounting problems in the banking sector.
A senior executive of a private bank on condition of not disclosing his identity raised question why executives drawing significantly higher salaries in private banks would be interested in taking relatively lower-paid positions at state-owned banks.
He said employees had legitimate expectations of reaching the top position after serving their institutions for many years.
“We have served the banks for years. Naturally, we expect to become managing directors before retirement. But that opportunity is now being taken away,” he said.
Another executive who spent more than 25 years in public banks said that irregularities and corruption in state-owned banks could not be attributed solely to managing directors, saying political interference and the role of bank boards were also responsible for many of the problems.
“Such appointments could create disorder within state-owned banks. Officials may not readily accept an MD coming from outside. That could ultimately hurt the bank,” he said.
He added that an outsider would also need considerable time to understand the bank’s operations, financial condition and internal dynamics, potentially limiting the effectiveness of the appointment.
The government recently removed the managing directors of Sonali Bank, Janata Bank and Rupali Bank few days ago. Earlier, it cancelled the remaining terms of the managing directors of BASIC Bank and Agrani Bank. But the government did not publicly clarify whether the removals were made on political considerations or based on performance assessments.
