Tajik Leader Promises Bank Deposit Guarantee

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, , (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Dec, 2016 ) - Tajikistan's president on Thursday said his government would guarantee client deposits at banks, while blasting lenders for losing customer confidence and demanding they shape up.

In his end-of-the-year speech, President Emomali Rakhmon told fretting bank customers that the government would guarantee their deposits at key financial institutions in the ex-Soviet Central Asian country after many have complained of being unable to withdraw their money.

"I want to say to the clients of banks, don't worry about your deposits. The government will guarantee them," Rakhmon said.

Rakhmon -- who led the impoverished country out of a five-year civil war in the 1990s and is now the subject of a blossoming personality cult -- also criticised the banks for depleting the population's confidence in the banking system.

"Our banks do not meet modern requirements," he said. "The volume of lending has decreased by 32 percent this year, people have lost confidence in the banks," he added, calling on financial institutions to reform.

On Wednesday Tajikistan announced it was allocating $490 million to bail out key local banks including Tojiksodirotbank, where customers claim they have been unable to withdraw from their accounts.