Presidency breaks silence on SME Bank

GOVERNMENT did not step in to save the SME Bank because the bank's fate was being decided in the High Court, but the law will be followed to bring those responsible for the bank's collapse to book, the Presidency said on Wednesday.

The SME Bank was closed last week after five years of operating. The closing of the bank followed a successful Bank of Namibia High Court case, and partly because government and the Zimbabwean shareholders failed to inject N$300 million to stave off its closure. The lack of bailout funding and the missing N$200 million “invested” in South Africa encouraged the central bank to push for the SME Bank's closure. Presidential spokesperson Albertus Aochamub told The Namibian on Wednesday that the Presidency did not want to intervene while the court case was ongoing.