By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, July 7 -- After allegations of fraud and UN recommendations, late on July 7 US Secretary of State John Kerry said
"I have noted reports of protests in Afghanistan and of suggestions of a 'parallel government' with the gravest concern. The United States expects Afghan electoral institutions to conduct a full and thorough review of all reasonable allegations of irregularities. At the same time, there is no justifiable recourse to violence or threats of violence, or for resort to extra-constitutional measures or threats of the same. The apolitical role of the security forces must be respected by all parties. We call on all Afghan leaders to maintain calm in order to preserve the gains of the last decade and maintain the trust of the Afghan people. Any action to take power by extra-legal means will cost Afghanistan the financial and security support of the United States and the international community."
We will have yet more about the UN's and UNDP's fumblings in Afghanistan.
Back on May 21, 2104, with Afghanistan in transition, the International Monetary Fund issued a report that "several reforms have been delayed."
On banks, the IMF's Article IV review said:
“Directors concurred that continued efforts are needed to strengthen the banking system and promote financial deepening. They encouraged the central bank to monitor the banking system closely and enforce prudential regulations decisively. They looked forward to the rapid implementation of the strategic plan for strengthening financial sector supervision and recommended the prompt passage and implementation of the new banking law, amendments to the central bank law, and provisions to assure adequate legal protection of central bank supervisory staff. They encouraged stronger efforts to recover Kabul Bank assets and finalize the privatization of New Kabul Bank.”
John Sopko, the US special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), said that the 2010 collapse of Kabul Bank was triggered by $935 million skimmed and stolen, 92% of it by a mere 19 people. He said, “it shows how the patronage system and the failure to prosecute people guilty of gross fraud and abuse is undermining the Afghan economy.”
Then again, there have been few prosecutions for even larger, predatory lending triggered bank failures in the United States. Watch this site.
