Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Kabul Bank Up for Sale

Kabul Bank Up for Sale

Afghan and foreign investors will take part in the bidding process

KABUL - The country's largest private sector bank is being put up for sale at a time when $34.9 million of its loan mark-ups have been written off, senior officials announced on Saturday.
The Kabul Bank that the government took over after it came to the verge of collapse two years back as a result of issuing unauthorized loans has been renamed as New Kabul Bank. The bank's outstanding loans work out at $937.7 million.
Noorullah Delawari, the central bank governor, told reporters in Kabul that bids for the New Kabul Bank's sell-off would be called in August in line with a Cabinet decision. Afghan and foreign investors will take part in the bidding process.

Khan Afzal Hadwal, Da Afghanistan Bank's deputy chief, said that waiving off interest on loans was common practice in other countries of the world. He linked the waiver to the borrowers' inability to pay the mark-ups.
For his part, Delawari revealed that $128.2 million of the New Kabul Bank loans had been recovered so far and repayment guarantees received from the individuals who had to return $235.1 million.

But the central bank governor acknowledged that $410.4 million credit remained unaccounted for, with auditors trying to resolve the issue. He was confident that a sizeable portfolio of infected loans would be recovered.
The Ministry of Finance accepted some shares of the bank after it ran into a serious financial crisis. In December, Delawari said nearly $850 million were taken from the bank in off-book loans.

A high-level meeting, chaired by President Hamid Karzai, decided earlier this month to refer the Kabul Bank loan case to court. The Attorney General Office presented a detailed report on the crisis, saying properties belonging to the defaulters had been sold in Kabul and Dubai.

The properties include 147 apartments in the Istiqlal Township in Kabul and another 19 in the UAE, according to the report that said 150 containers and some land had been seized from loanees.
Properties purchased with the anomalous loans in the UAE include 17 residential houses and two high-rise buildings, according to First Deputy Governor of Da Afghanistan Bank Mohibullah Sapi.

Sher Khan Farnood, President Hamid Karzai's brother Mehmood Karzai, first vice-president's brother Mohammad Hussain Fahim, Tahir Zahir, Ghulam Daud Nasib, Sufi Nisar, Shukrullah Shakran, Istiqlal township owner Haji Khalil, Kabul Bank Director Khalilullah Ferozi and Hayatullah are among the big-time borrowers. (Pajhwok)