Owing to international pressure US to discuss over frozen funds to Kabul
Aug 23, 2022
Kabul [Afghanistan], August 23 : Owing to tremendous pressure from the international community, US President Joe Biden's administration is likely to initiate talks on the release of frozen funds to uplift the faltering economy of Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported citing sources.
Notably, Washington stopped flying in hard currency, paralyzing Afghanistan's banking system and froze USD 7 billion in Afghan assets in the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The billions of dollars that are lying in Afghanistan's foreign-held assets are the need of the hour to stabilize Afghanistan's collapsed economy which also underlines the growing concern in Washington. The United Nations has highlighted that nearly half the country's 40 million people face acute hunger and are on the brink of starvation.
According to Khaama Press, Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis skyrocketed when Washington and other donors halted aid that funded 70 per cent of the government budget following the Taliban's seizure of Kabul last year and now the US government is likely to set up the international trust fund to support the crippling economy of the country.
Earlier, in the month of June, the Taliban official Amir Khan Muttaqi, along with his delegation, left for Qatar to discuss with the US officials the release of withheld Afghan assets. At the same time, US sources claimed that Joe Biden's administration was working with the Taliban on a mechanism that would provide Afghanistan access to the monetary reserves of the central bank.
After the Taliban seized the nation by force last year, the US froze Afghan reserves. The militants-turned-politicians are currently working to restore the nation's economy which has been ravaged by sanctions imposed and isolation.
US President Joe Biden decided to split USD 7 billion of the frozen Afghan assets to fund humanitarian relief in Afghanistan and compensate victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Afghanistan is currently grappling with a serious humanitarian crisis according to international assessments with more than 23 million in need of assistance. Although the fighting in the country has ended, serious human rights violations continue unabated, especially against women, children and minorities.
