TEHRAN, September 2. /TASS/. Afghanistan’s central bank - De Afghanistan bank has asked the United States to release the reserves of the country and allow the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) to receive the access to the state reserves kept in the US, the Khaama Press news agency reported on Thursday.
The plea comes as the US has frozen $9.4 billion reserves of Afghanistan’s central banks in the accounts of US banks, the agency said.
On August 18, Ajmal Ahmadi, the acting head of the Central Bank in the government of President Ashraf Ghani, who fled the country, said that the Taliban have access to no more than 0.1% of state reserves, since a significant part of them had been frozen by the United States. In his opinion, in the current situation, the Taliban must take control over capital flows, as well as restrict access to dollar assets in the country in order to avoid rising inflation and the impoverishment of the population.
After the Biden administration announced the end of its US military operation in Afghanistan and the launch of its troop pullout, the Taliban embarked on an offensive against Afghan government forces. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance, and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said he had stepped down to prevent any bloodshed and subsequently fled the country.
There has been a rapid deterioration of the economic situation in the country with a surge in prices for food and fuel and hundreds of thousands of people left without work. The financial activities have dropped sharply. Although the banking system of Afghanistan began to gradually resume its work on August 25, there is a limit of just over $200 per week on cash withdrawals from customer accounts.