08 January 2005	Saturday	26 Ziqa'ad 1425

PESHAWAR, Jan 7: The managing-director of the Bank of Khyber has submitted his resignation, ending a brief spell that was mired in controversies, a senior government official told Dawn.

The official said that Dr Munir Ahmad had put in his resignation and a summary had now been moved to Chief Minister Muhammad Akram Khan Durrani, seeking replacement of the BoK managing director.

"Dr Munir has submitted his resignation and we have moved a summary seeking chief minister's approval and his replacement," the official said. Senior Minister Sirajul Haq, Additional Chief Secretary Mir Laiq Shah, who is also chairman of bank's board of directors, and Secretary Finance Ziaur Rehman are expected to meet the chief minister for consultations.

A decision was expected by Saturday, the official said. The official said that the government was considering replacing Dr Munir with Muhammad Asif Sethi, a retired banker and at present a member of the BoK board of directors.

He said that Mr Sethi would initially be given acting charge of the bank before sending his papers to the State Bank of Pakistan to get him appointed on a contract basis for the office.

Dr Munir, who was appointed managing director in September, 2003, had been haunted by controversies from day one. Questions were raised about his educational credentials as the PhD in Islamic Banking from Washington International University - a distance learning institution - that inquiries revealed was not accredited with any agency recognized by the US Department of Education.

There were stories about loans which upset the board of directors. The situation was further aggravated by the resignation of the head of treasury Amjad Pervez and Chief Financial Officer, Seedur Rehman.

This was followed by the suspension of two of the three senior vice-presidents, Amjad Ali Arbab and Dr Mohsin after a bitter and acrimonious row. Both have now obtained early retirement with full benefits.

Dawn had carried a detailed report on the state of affairs at the BoK in July last year, exposing political interference and internal wrangling that had led to serious problems in the bank.

Dr Munir had denied any wrong-doing on his part and had been insisting that everything was done within the prescribed rules and regulations. The official said that much of what had happened during the term of the BoK MD had been made part of the SBP's report which was one of the contributing factors that led the provincial government to consider relieving the man it had been defending so steadfastly in the past.

"The report is quite damaging," another senior official confided. "That might have been one reason why the managing director opted to resign," the official said.

Dr Munir sought to downplay his resignation. "I have told them (the government) I wouldn't be staying", he said, when approached for his comments. He said that he had told the government that he could not serve under so much pressure.

"I have 39 years of banking service and at no time did I face so much pressure. It was a sort of mental torture and I couldn't cope with it any more", he said, though he hastened to add that the pressure he was talking about emanated from shortage of officers at the senior management level.

"We have advertised but people are scared to come to the NWFP," Mr Munir claimed. The NWFP Government controls 87 per cent of the shares of the Bank of Khyber, the remaining 13 per cent are controlled by the German DEG Bank.

The official downplayed any possible fallout of the MD's resignation on public flotation of BoK shares in the open market as part of its dis investment strategy. "I don't think it will have any negative effect. On the contrary, I think, it will boost the confidence of the people after all that has happened in the last one year or so," the official remarked.