Bank Review Needed for Public's Confidence: ACTA

An Afghan accountability watchdog called for the country's Central Bank to seriously pursue a resolution to the Kabul Bank crisis or risk destroying the confidence of the people towards the banking system.

"If the Kabul Bank case is not pursued in a serious manner, the trust of people towards the banking system will be destroyed," the Afghan Coalition for Transparency and Accountability (ACTA) said in an open letter to the Central Bank president.

ACTA recommended that the Kabul Bank case be handed over to a global entity to study and assess for an independent review of the situation.

According to ACTA member Shinkai Karokhail, such an investigation should also look at other private banks in the country.

"The Central Bank should pursue an overall investigation of all private banks and if there is any possible mistakes they should correct them to help them, and if there is many mistakes then they should be followed and seriously investigated [further]," Karokhail told TOLOnews Thursday.

The group believes that if the Kabul Bank crisis is not properly dealt with, it will badly affect the international community's financial assistance towards Afghanistan and decrease the country's development budget.

"We believe that if there is no serious steps towards a solutions, there is possibility of a decrease in the international community's efforts towards assisting Afghanistan," ACTA member Hamed Sarwary said Thursday.

Meanwhile, ACTA also sent an open letter to the United Nations Special Representative in Afghanistan seeking an investigation into the embezzlement of the Law and Order Trust Fund, which is managed by the United Nations program.

The results of such an enquiry should also be provided to the Afghan people, it said.

"It is a gross violation of the law, especially in a country like Afghanistan which is still so dependent on humanitarian aid," ACTA member Najla Ayoubi said.