Monday, August 16, 2021
Afghan dollars abroad
USA wants to deny Taliban access to foreign currency
Twenty years later, the Taliban regained extensive control over Afghanistan. They occupy the presidential palace, patrol the streets. One thing will not be achievable for them: Central bank reserves of the Afghan government in the USA. It could be billions of dollars.
According to a US government official, the radical Islamic Taliban will not have access to credit in the US. “Central bank reserves of the Afghan government, which are located in the US, will not be made available to the Taliban,” said the US government representative.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Afghan central bank’s reserves amounted to 9.4 billion dollars (eight billion euros) at the end of April. Much of the money is outside of Afghanistan, it said. It was initially unclear how large the amount is that is stored in the USA.
Washington could also block the disbursement of aid from the IMF or the World Bank for Afghanistan. In June, the IMF released the last installment of a $ 370 million loan to Afghanistan to boost the country’s economy during the Corona crisis.
The World Bank is also running more than two dozen development projects in Afghanistan. The institute has provided Kabul with more than $ 5.3 billion to date, mostly in the form of grants. The Taliban reached the capital Kabul on Sunday after a ten-day campaign of conquest through Afghanistan. The Afghan government admitted its defeat and President Ashraf Ghani fled abroad.
Dramatic scenes took place at the airport in the Afghan capital. Desperate people were trying to get on flights, as demonstrated by videos and pictures shared on social media. Among other things, they climbed turntable ladders to get on an airplane. Afghans without passports also tried their luck. According to a media report, Taliban fighters attacked the military part of the airport. The attack was repulsed by US and Turkish soldiers. Air traffic was later temporarily suspended.
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