KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s central bank on Saturday criticised Washington’s plan to make use of half the bank’s $7 billion in frozen property on U.S. soil for humanitarian assist and put aside the remaining to presumably fulfill lawsuits over the Sept. 11, 2001 assaults.
U.S. administration officers stated on Friday they might work to make sure entry to $3.5 billion of the property would profit the Afghan folks, amid calls for the cash for use to deal with a deepening financial disaster for the reason that Taliban seized energy final 12 months.
The different half of the funds would stay within the United States, topic to ongoing litigation concentrating on the Taliban, together with by relations of those that died within the Sept. 11 assaults, the officers stated.
Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) criticised the choice, saying its property had been invested within the United States in step with worldwide practices, and belonged to the folks of Afghanistan.
“DAB considers the newest choice of USA on blocking FX (international alternate) reserves and allocating them to irrelevant functions, injustice to the folks of Afghanistan,” the central bank stated in a press release.
“(DAB) won’t ever settle for if the FX reserves of Afghanistan is paid below the identify of compensation or humanitarian help to others and needs the reversal of the choice and launch of all FX reserves of Afghanistan,” it added.
The central bank funds have been frozen for the reason that Taliban took over the nation as international forces withdrew in August.
The frozen funding mixed with sanctions and a drop off in growth funding have despatched the nation’s economic system into freefall, unleashing a humanitarian disaster.
(Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Helen Popper)
