The government will take action against the auditors of five recently merged banks over allegations of manipulating financial statements that encouraged small investors to buy their shares from the stock market, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said on Tuesday.
He indicated that the authorities are examining the circumstances under which investors made their investment decisions based on the banks' published accounts.
Dr Ahmed made the remarks while briefing reporters after chairing two meetings of the Advisers' Council on Government Purchase and Economic Affairs at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
He was responding to concerns raised by investors who said they relied on the banks' apparently strong financial positions disclosed in audit reports.
"Yes, we will take action against them. We are examining in what context investors bought the shares of these banks. Let's see what we can do," he said in reply to a query.
Before August 5, 2024, the banks had reported profits in their financial statements, which encouraged investors to purchase their shares, he said.
However, he added that providing compensation to general shareholders is a highly complicated matter. "They wanted to be owners of the banks, so they bought the shares," he noted.
Late last year, the government merged five ailing commercial banks - First Security Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank and EXIM Bank - to form Sammilito Islami Bank PLC.
Following the merger, the value of the banks' shares on the stock market was declared zero and trading was suspended, leaving millions of small investors in the lurch.
Small investors are now demanding that the government refund the money they invested in buying the shares.
Although the finance adviser had earlier said the government would look into what could be done for small investors, no significant progress has been made so far.
Replying to another query on a new pay scale for government employees, Mr Ahmed said a decision would be taken after receiving the report of the 21-member commission currently reviewing the matter before submitting its recommendations to the government.
Asked about government preparations for a possible oil price hike following recent developments in Venezuela, the finance adviser said a long-term plan had been adopted to ensure energy security.
"Energy is a big challenge for us. Unless we can ensure energy supply, local industrial production will face disruption," he said.
On high inflation, Mr Ahmed said inflation does not depend solely on demand and supply. "Without political governance, economics alone cannot control commodity prices," he observed.
Earlier, the meeting on public procurement approved the purchase of 10 million litres of refined soybean oil and 40,000 tonnes of fertiliser under separate proposals.
Under one approval, Sonargaon Seeds Crushing Mills Ltd of Dhaka will supply 10 million litres of soybean oil to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh for distribution at subsidised rates during the holy month of Ramadan.
Each litre of oil will cost Tk 180.85, with the total procurement amounting to Tk 1.80 billion.
The meeting also approved a proposal to import 40,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea fertiliser from SABIC Agri-Nutrients Company of Saudi Arabia at a total cost of Tk 1.91 billion, with each tonne priced at US$390.
syful-islam@outlook.com
