DUSHANBE -- The Tajik parliament's lower house has adopted amendments to the law on the National Bank of Tajikistan that put more power in the hands of the country's president and ban central bankers from doing business with private companies, RFE/RL's Tajik service reports.
Other changes include a requirement that all National Bank profits go directly to the state treasury.
The measures are seen as a response to inspections of Tajikistan's central bank last year by an independent British auditor that revealed some $1 billion in irregularities between 2004 and 2008.
Tajik officials have been hard-pressed to explain the financial shortcomings.
Among other things, the Tajik president should now propose candidates for seven-year terms to chair the central bank, and retired bankers will be included on the bank's governing board.