Muhith finds unacceptable parts of his interview published in Prothom Alo

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said the statements published in Prothom Ali in his interview ‘are not acceptable’.

In a media statement on Friday, he said the newspaper even published several statements he had made ‘outside of the interview’.

Bengali daily Prothom Alo published the interview under the caption ‘Theft from Bangladesh Bank reserves: Central bank officials involved’ on its front page as the lead story on Friday.

In the interview, the finance minister lambasted Atiur Rahman, who recently resigned from the post of central bank governor over the heist, and National Board of Revenue Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman.

Muhith said what he (himself) did in budget management over the last seven years was unmatched globally.

In the statement sent to the editor of Prothom Alo, Muhith said Sohrab Hossain and Fakhrul Islam Harun had interviewed him on Thursday.

“Many issues were discussed there beyond the interview and I warned them that several of the issues were not to be published,” he said in the statement, a copy of which has been obtained by bdnews24.com.

“For pre-scheduled interviews, journalists usually give me copies of their transcription in advance. And the versions I edit are published in media outlets,” he added.

The minister said ‘that routine’ was not followed in this particular interview.

He said, “It has come to light through this interview that I cannot always remain alert because of my age.”

Muhith has requested the Prothom Alo editor to inform the readers through a big-font front-page item on Saturday, that the interview was published without his ‘final approval’ and the statements in it were not acceptable to him.