It is only a matter of time before the newly formed Sammilit Islami Bank returns the money to depositors. There is no reason for customers to worry about this, said Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and Spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan.

He said, all the information of the five merged banks will be added to the database of the new bank. All the old customers will now be considered as customers of the newly formed bank. The work of building the IT and HR structure of the new bank is underway. The IT team of Bangladesh Bank will assist them if necessary.

He made these remarks while addressing the media on Thursday (December 11).

Arif Hossain Khan said, "First, the customer of the bank will receive the money from his own bank. There is no question of giving money to a customer of one bank from another bank. Once the data transfer is completed, the money will be refunded in stages."

Explaining the reason for not announcing a specific date, he said, "If I say today that the money will be given from December 17, then there will be a huge crowd in all the branches of the five banks on that day. It will be difficult for the law enforcement agencies to handle it. Therefore, the money will be given gradually without announcing a date."

A spokesperson for the central bank said, "There is no need to open a new account. As per the government's decision, Tk 20,000 crore has already been deposited in the current account opened in the name of the new bank at Bangladesh Bank. As a result, there is no further obstacle to returning the money."