Dhaka, May 30 -- Bangladesh Bank has said there is no possibility of the conventional National Bank merging with Islamic Shariah-based banks, shrugging off recent media reports suggesting otherwise.

On Friday, central bank spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan said some newspapers had reported, quoting the governor, that six weak banks would be merged under government ownership.

"The report is inaccurate," he added. "National Bank follows conventional banking, with no scope for inclusion in the restructuring of Islamic banks."

The reports emerged after Channel 24 aired a news segment on Monday, quoting the Bangladesh Bank chief as saying that several weak banks would be merged by July this year.

According to the channel, the list included S...