KASB’s big account holders in trouble

KARACHI: As the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has allowed the depositors of the KASB Bank to withdraw up to Rs300,000, the account holders of the bank, especially businessmen, are facing a severe financial crisis.
As a result, they can neither withdraw the amount from KASB Bank nor use it. Though the step by SBP has given relief to the small account holders, the capital of businessmen and different organisations worth millions of rupees remains trapped in the bank, giving way to financial problems for them.
Due to these circumstances, many businessmen have got no option other than borrowing money and their financial condition is worsening.The account holders of the KASB Bank are of the view that the bank says that they will receive the money after six months. They said it was an injustice that they could not use their own money, their business was affected and they were borrowing money as a last resort.
An account holder told The News that he bought a plot for Rs100 million, made a down payment of Rs10 million and had to pay the remaining amount in a month, but the restriction was imposed on the KASB Bank due to which he could not make the payment on time and lost Rs10 million of the down payment.
The account holders are of the view that the weak policies of the SBP have led to the current situation and they have been deprived of their own money.It merits a mention that the SBP imposed a moratorium on KASB Bank. Consequently, the activities of the bank got suspended and the account holders were barred from withdrawing their money. Afterwards, the SBP allowed the account holders from withdrawing up to Rs300,000.
SBP Spokesperson Abid Qamar told The News that to resolve the matters pertaining to the KASB Bank, the SBP had given a time of six months out of which four months were left. He hoped that these matters would be disposed of soon.
He further said that the weak financial position of KASB Bank had caused the moratorium. The KASB Bank was not capable of fulfilling the bank application and the SBP took this step to safeguard the amount of the account holders. He said three banks had shown interest in acquiring the KASB Bank. These banks include the JS Bank, Sindh Bank and Askari Bank.