Bangladesh to make announcement on Tuesday about central bank after major cyber heist

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's Finance Ministry will make a major announcement on Tuesday about the central bank, a ministry spokesman said on Monday, after cyber criminals stole $81 million in one of the largest bank heists in history.

Earlier, Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith had told reporters the government planned to make the announcement on Monday.

Muhith did not specify what the statement would say, but has expressed unhappiness that Bangladesh Bank did not inform him about the heist at the time.

Central bank governor Atiur Rahman has been in India since late last week for a conference, and arrived back in Dhaka late on Monday. Rahman could not be immediately reached for comment.

Bangladesh's central bank confirmed on Sunday that cyber criminals tried to withdraw $951 million from its U.S. bank account.

Unknown hackers breached the computer systems of Bangladesh Bank and transferred $81 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to casinos in the Philippines between Feb. 4 and Feb. 5.

(Reporting by Serajul Qadir; Editing by Mike Collett-White)