Proposals exchanged for the release of billions of dollars
Kabul/Washington — US and Taliban officials have exchanged proposals for the release of billions of dollars from Afghan central bank reserves held abroad into a trust fund, three sources familiar with the talks said, giving a hint of progress in efforts to ease Afghanistan’s economic crisis.
The US has been in talks with Switzerland and other parties on the creation of a mechanism that would include the trust fund, disbursements from which would be decided with the help of an international board, according to a US source who also declined to be named. Some $9bn in reserves have been held outside Afghanistan, including $7bn in the US, since the Taliban overran Kabul last August as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of fighting the militants.
Experts cautioned that releasing funds would bring only temporary relief and new revenue streams were needed to replace direct foreign aid that financed 70% of the government budget before it was halted after the Taliban takeover. The Taliban official said the group was open to allowing a US state department-appointed contractor to monitor Afghanistan’s central bank compliance with anti-money laundering standards, and that monitoring experts would be able to go to Afghanistan.But the Taliban were concerned the US idea could create a parallel central banking structure, the official added, and were not prepared to remove top political appointees including deputy governor Noor Ahmad Agha, who is under US terrorism sanctions.
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