Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Dr Md Habibur Rahman was prevented from leaving the country on Sunday (31 August) and sent back from the airport.
He was scheduled to fly to Namibia on a 5pm flight to attend an official programme, along with 10 other central bank officials who were all able to travel without issue.
Habibur, who was appointed deputy governor during the previous Awami League government, was reportedly stopped at the last moment despite already clearing immigration.
Airport sources said officials informed him that there was a government instruction barring his departure and expressed regret over the situation.
The Ministry of Finance recently sent a letter to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) requesting investigations into allegations of corruption involving the central bank governor, deputy governors, and managing directors and directors of 26 state-owned and private banks appointed during the Awami League’s tenure.
This list was also shared with the immigration police.
Following the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August last year, two deputy governors — Kazi Saidur Rahman and Khurshid Alam — along with BFIU Chief Md Masud Biswas and Policy Adviser Abu Farah Md Nasser -  were forced to resign amid protests from central bank officials.
Habibur and fellow deputy governor Nurun Nahar, both appointed under the previous government, remain in office.
Before his appointment as deputy governor in February 2024, Habibur served as the chief economist of Bangladesh Bank.
He holds first-class honors and a master’s degree in economics from Jahangirnagar University and began his career as an assistant director in the bank’s research department in 1990.
He later earned a master’s and a PhD in applied economics from Eastern and Western Michigan University in the United States under a USAID scholarship.