Kabul Bank crisis
The bank has allegedly used millions of dollars for high-risk real estate investments in Dubai.
Angry customers of Afghanistan’s largest private bank queue again in the hope of withdrawing their savings, as Kabul Bank is still the subject of alleged large-scale corruption by its top bosses.
The customers’ panic began last week when the Kabul Bank’s chairman and CEO were fired after discovering that millions of dollars had been lent and poured into high-risk real estate investments in Dubai.
A number of US experts are provideing technical assistance to the bank in this time of crisis, with Washington ruling out any move to finance a rescue plan.
Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s president, whose brother Mahmud is the bank’s third-biggest shareholder, has been trying to assure nervous customers that their deposits are safe.
But who is really behind this bank’s crisis? Is this another sign of rampant corruption inside Karzai’s government? And could a run on Kabul Bank pose security challenges?
Inside Story, with presenter Hazem Sika, discusses with Faheem Dashty, a political analyst and chief editor of the Kabul Weekly newspaper, Farooq Bashar, a political analyst and professor at Bakhtar University, and Michael Griffin, an Afghanistan expert and author.
This episode of Inside Story aired from Sunday, September 5, 2010.