The inauguration of Sammilito Islami Bank PLC tomorrow has been postponed, the Bangladesh Bank said, while central bank officials cited “security concerns”.

The ceremony for the newly formed, large state-owned shariah bank was due to take place at 10am at Hotel InterContinental Dhaka.

The lender has been created through the merger of five troubled Islamic banks.

In a notification issued today, the central bank said the programme would not take place due to “unavoidable circumstances”.

While no official explanation was given, Bangladesh Bank (BB) officials said some depositors and bank employees from various levels in Chattogram had announced plans to besiege the venue. 

Calls for protest were circulating across social media platforms, they added.

Against that backdrop, the decision to postpone the event was taken after discussions with the finance adviser, according to BB officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed was scheduled to attend the programme as the chief guest, while BB Governor Ahsan H Mansur was expected to be present as the special guest.

Central bank sources said Sammilito Islami Bank is still expected to begin operations later this month. The launch may take place without any formal ceremony, given the online calls for demonstrations.

The postponement follows a recent reversal by the central bank on its earlier decision to bar the five merging banks from paying any profit on deposits for 2024 and 2025, a move that had sparked widespread anger among savers.

Under revised instructions, the banks will pay provisional profit at an annual rate of 4 percent on mudaraba savings and term deposit accounts for the period from January 1, 2024, to December 28, 2025.

The revised directive applies only to individual depositors, according to separate central bank letters sent to each of the five banks last week.

The merging banks are First Security Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Union Bank, Global Islami Bank and EXIM Bank.