No plans for US to unfreeze $9.5bln of Afghanistan's financial reserves: IMF
Oct 22, 2021
Washington [US], October 22 : The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that there are no plans for the United States to unfreeze estimated USD 9.5 billion of Afghanistan's financial reserves, Sputnik reported.
"At the moment, we do not have any further updates to provide on Afghanistan," the IMF spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday when asked whether the United States may consider unfreezing Afghanistan's reserves.
After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, the United States froze nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank, while the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Union suspended funding for projects there.
On September 13, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Sputnik that the new Afghan government is ready to take all possible legal steps to unfreeze Afghanistan's foreign assets in the United States.
The Taliban have urged the United States to unfreeze Afghanistan's central bank reserves, during the first in-person meeting in Qatar after the takeover of Kabul in August.
Last month, IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice said at a press conference that Afghanistan will not have access to this grant because of the uncertainty over Afghanistan's government.
