Jakarta – In the latest blow to Indonesia's shaky economic recovery, five central bank executives have resigned in a dispute over who should shoulder responsibility for a bungled bailout of the nation's insolvent financial sector.

The Bank Indonesia officials quit late Friday night, hours after financial markets closed. They claimed they lacked the support of the government, the parliament and the public.

Newspapers on Saturday reported that their resignations, tendered to the parliament, came amid expectations that President Abdurrahman Wahid was about to force a reshuffle of the bank's board by threatening to withdraw state financial support for the institution. One of those who resigned, however, said the deputy governors quit voluntarily. "Our resignations are part of our moral responsibility," Anwar Nasution said. Wahid is expected to nominate new candidates for the vacant positions during the weekend.

Bank Indonesia has been under attack over how it lent almost $16 billion in emergency funds to ailing banks from 1997-99. The funds were poured into dozens of insolvent commercial banks to keep them afloat, but most of the banks were eventually closed down. Many were operated by interests linked to former dictator Suharto's corruption-riddled regime. A government auditor last year found that much of the money was misused and cannot be repaid.

The controversy has shaken confidence in Indonesia's attempts to end its worst economic crisis in a generation. The value of Indonesia's currency, the rupiah, is sliding, foreign investment is low and the debt-ridden economy is propped up by international loans and aid.