Atiur Rahman

Atiur Rahman
আতিউর রহমান
Rahman in 2014
Governor of Bangladesh Bank
In office
1 May 2009 – 15 March 2016[1]
Preceded bySalahuddin Ahmed
Succeeded byFazle Kabir
Personal details
Born (1951-08-03) 3 August 1951 (age 73)[2]
Jamalpur, East Bengal, Pakistan (Now, Mymensingh, Bangladesh)
SpouseShahana Rahman
Alma materUniversity of Dhaka
SOAS, University of London
ProfessionEconomist
AwardsWorld No Tobacco Day Award (2012)
Bangla Academy Literary Award (2016)

Atiur Rahman (Bengali: আতিউর রহমান; born 3 August 1951)[2] is a Bangladeshi development economist, author, and banker. He served as the 10th Governor of Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh. He has been called "the banker of the poor" for his contributions in developing the Bangladeshi economy.[3] Rahman is credited with instituting changes in the banking industry that greatly increased the country's foreign exchange reserves and brought automation and digitization in the banking sector.[4] Achievements during his tenure include the creation of the National Payment Switch; introducing automated check clearing for banks using local currency cheques; starting mobile banking; establishing the Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network (BEFTN); and installing the Bangladesh Automated Clearing House (BACH).[5][failed verification] On 15 March 2016, he resigned as central bank governor after the cyber hacking and theft of US$101 million in foreign reserves from the Bangladesh Bank account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.[6][7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ds15Mar2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference du was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Banker of the Poor". Daily Sun. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  4. ^ "Atiur stresses auto payment system to accelerate dev". Daily Sun. 1 November 2015. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  5. ^ Harmachi, Abdur Rahim (6 January 2015). "Atiur Rahman Asia's Central Banker of the Year". bdnews24.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015.
  6. ^ Bahree, Megha (22 June 2016). "Former Bangladesh Bank Chief Blames Global System for Theft". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016.
  7. ^ Paul, Ruma (7 February 2018). "Bangladesh to sue Manila bank over $81-million heist". Reuters. Archived from the original on 16 October 2018.