The Faculty of Economics at Kardan University organized a webinar on “The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Banking Industry in Afghanistan” on Monday, July 13, at 9: 00 AM.

Mr. Ahmad Khesrow Khan Zia, President & CEO of Maiwand Bank and Chairman of Afghanistan Banking Association, a seasoned professional in the Afghanistan banking sector, conducted the webinar for the students of Economics Faculty. Mr. Usman Ali, Assistant Professor at Kardan University, also played an active role by providing thoughtful insight to participating students in this webinar.

The presenters discussed the role of the banking sector in uplifting economies like Afghanistan and problems in lack of long term loans to banks. They also discussed matters related to assets quality, capital formation, and an increase in operating cost due to COVID-19 across sectors.

Following recommendations were shared related to government agencies:
• Announcing emergency of cashless banking
• DAB can offer loans to those SMEs which have retained their employees for the last months on relax terms, and the loan amount could be 200% of the total salaries paid by those SMEs during these months
• Assessing risk by DAB on each business sector individually to identify the impact of each sector
• Announcing a survey project by DAB or commercial banks to collect data on the preference of customers banking practices during COVID-19 pandemic
• Lowering the interest rate in general

The session ended with encouraging questions and engagement of the audience, with requests to have a face-to-face seminar in the series after COVID-19. Mr. Khesraw encouraged participating students to take internship opportunities in Maiwand bank to enrich their practical understanding in the banking sector of Afghanistan and beyond.