Former finance minister AMA Muhith has planned to spend leisure time by reading and writing books.
“From now on, I will spend my spare time by reading and writing books. I have a collection of 50,000 books. I haven’t read them all yet,” Muhith said.
Speaking at a farewell programme organized by the ministry staffers on Monday (Jan 7), Muhith said, “I will start reading some of those (books).
“I will also do another work, which is to write something after reading,” he said.
Speaking on his retirement, Muhith said, “Nobody ousted me, I am going on retirement willingly and it’s an honour.”
He, however, claimed to run his office smoothly over the past ten years.
Quite the opposite, the octogenarian man was no stranger to controversy. He often drew attention for his insensible remarks on running his ministry, notably the banking sector.
The outgoing minister said that the country will reach a higher mark of development in the next five years.
“No one then will be able to dethrone Bangladesh,” Muhith hoped.
In Feb 2018, the 84-year-old veteran bureaucrat-turned-politician announced to quit politics by the end of that year.
A Dhaka University English Literature graduate, Muhith later studied at Oxford and Harvard while in service during the Pakistan period.
He retired from service in 1981 and worked for Ford Foundation and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as a consultant before entering politics
Muhith was given the Independence Award in 2016 for defecting to Bangladesh government while working with the Pakistan Embassy in the United States in 1971 and as an organiser for creating public opinion in favour of the Liberation War abroad.