The Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Ahsan H. Mansur, has received a ‘C’ grade in the 2025 assessment by Global Finance, an international financial magazine. This rating indicates that the central bank’s performance under his leadership has been considered “mixed,” according to the global organisation.
The report highlights that, under Mansur’s tenure, the central bank has delivered average results in key areas, including inflation control, economic growth, currency stability, and policy credibility.
In Global Finance’s 2025 “Central Banker Report Card”, central bank governors from 100 countries were evaluated, with Sri Lanka’s Nandalal Weerasinghe receiving an ‘A’, and Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Hong achieving the top grade of ‘A+’. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s former governor, Abdur Rouf Talukder, was given a ‘D’ grade in 2023.
Ahsan H. Mansur took office in August 2024 during a period of significant economic turmoil, marked by political instability, a struggling banking sector, a foreign exchange reserve crisis, and soaring inflation.
Since assuming the role, Mansur has implemented stricter monetary policies to tackle inflation, raising the repo rate from 8.5% to 10%. While this policy has had some success in controlling inflation, the country’s economic growth has slowed, with the GDP for the 2025 fiscal year expected to fall to 3.9%, significantly lower than the decade’s average of 6%.
Governor Mansur has also launched a three-year banking sector reform programme with the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This initiative aims to reduce non-performing loans, modernise bankruptcy laws, and increase accountability in bank management. However, the pace of progress has been slow, and weaknesses in implementation remain.
Global Finance notes that Mansur’s policy direction is “sound,” but its execution has lagged, resulting in a lack of regained public confidence in the financial system.
Economists suggest that the ‘C’ grade reflects the fact that while Mansur’s policy direction is on the right track, the desired changes are not yet visible. Issues such as inflation, loan irregularities, and instability in the dollar market continue to challenge Bangladesh’s central bank.
Experts from the IMF have expressed frustration with the lack of progress in implementing reforms, stating that while the current governor has technical expertise, he has not been able to accelerate the pace of reforms. The international community is now seeking quicker and more visible results, hoping to see Bangladesh’s economy return to a path of stability.