Newsmakers

Afghan central bank chief resigns

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-28 19:10

KABUL - The chief of Afghanistan Central Bank Abdul Qadir Fitrat resigned in Washington, a local Afghan TV channel reported on Tuesday.  

"The governor of De Afghanistan Bank -- Afghanistan's central bank Abdul Qadir Fitrat announced his resignation in Washington on Monday," the private television channel Tolo aired in its bulletin.

His resignation took place in the wake of the scandal that marred Afghanistan's first and famous private bank Kabul Bank in September last year.

Fitrat, in a footage of his press conference aired by Tolo television here cited security reasons for his resignation and stated, "The reason I could not resign in Kabul was because my life was in danger."

Afghan first private bank Kabul Bank nearly collapsed last year due to corruption, bad loans and mismanagement. However, the immidiate support of governemnt and injection of funds resuced it from complete collapse.

A couple of months ago, when briefing Afghan Wolesi Jirga or the Lower House of parliament, Fitrat named influential elite including Mahmoud Karzai, brother of President Hamid Karzai and Hassin Fahim, brother of Afghan Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim as the main borrowers and defaulters from Kabul Bank which eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Afghan private lending institution.

Meantime, President Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omar said Fitrat was partly responsible for the fraud that hit the Kabul bank, according to local media.

He also noted that Afghan government was not aware of Fitrat's resignation.