Finance Minister Ousted

Adbul Hadi Arghandiwal, Afghan Finance Minister, was dismissed and Mohammad Khalid Payende has been appointed as the new acting head of the Ministry of Finance, according to a decree issued by President Ashraf Ghani.

The decree mentioned delay in the collection of revenues, lack of cooperation in an assessment by a joint committee of illegal appointments in the Ministry of Finance and prevention of the assessments, weak management, lack of commitment to good governance values, and not obeying the article 77 of the constitution as reasons for his dismissal.

Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal was approved by the parliament as finance minister in November 2020.

According to reports, Arghandiwal had previously opposed the dismissal of 59 of the Ministry’s human resources staff which was proposed by the administrative office of the president.