US President Joe Biden's administration will continue to work to unblock frozen assets in Afghanistan, despite delays from the Taliban (a movement banned in Russia) and the Central Bank (Central Bank) of Afghanistan. This was reported by Reuters on Monday, citing sources.
According to their information, this decision is motivated by Washington's concerns over the humanitarian crisis in the country. According to the UN, 22.8 million Afghans are permanently malnourished and 8.7 million people are starving. Currently, the Taliban have access to only 0.1% of government reserves (of $9.4 billion) because a large part of them is frozen by the United States.
Nevertheless, the Afghan authorities, according to the Americans, are not acting fast enough. "The Taliban have been sitting idle, and this is annoying," one source told Reuters.
According to the agency, after the elimination of al-Qaeda (banned in the Russian Federation) chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, US State Department and Treasury Department officials said they would continue to negotiate despite frustration at their pace.
The agency notes that at the heart of the US aspirations is a plan to transfer the assets of the Afghan Central Bank to a trust fund in Switzerland, from where they will be sent to Afghanistan bypassing the Taliban. It is noted that the US side has discussed this plan with representatives of Switzerland and other participants. It is not possible to transfer the assets directly because many Taliban leaders are under US and UN sanctions.
According to Reuters, the State Department declined to comment.
Frozen assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan
Immediately after the Taliban takeover, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank suspended financial support to Kabul. The United States, in turn, froze the Afghan government's state reserves in US banks to prevent the Taliban from accessing them. The total amount of frozen funds is $9.5 billion (including $7 billion of reserves that were kept in the United States).
The Biden administration previously said it was considering releasing half of the nearly $7 billion and setting aside the rest to compensate victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks. The White House was also considering using $3.5 billion from the trust fund to pay for humanitarian aid and financial aid to the Afghanistan Central Bank, but with guarantees that the money would be used for its intended purpose.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: ErikaWittlieb\Pixabay
Based on materials from TASS