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Economists demanded the release of the frozen funds of Afghanistan by the US

11 Aug 2022 - 10:26

A group of prominent economists of the world sent a letter to Joe Biden, the presedent of United States and Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary of the United States, demanding the release of the country's frozen money. According to them, in order to reduce the humanitarian crisis and put the Afghan economy on the road to recovery, Da Afghanistan Bank should be allowed to recover its international reserves.


Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): In this letter, it is stated that countries, despite criticizing the behavior of the Islamic Emirate towards women and minorities, should return about nine billion dollars of the assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan to the Central Bank of this country in order for economic activities to return to normal.
 
"In order to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and put Afghanistan's economy on the path to recovery, we request you to allow Da Afghanistan Bank to restore its international reserves.
 
The letter, which was also addressed to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, was signed by 71 economists and academics, many of whom are based in the US, as well as Germany, India and the UK.
 
Among them, Yannis Varoufakis, the former finance minister of Greece, and Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 and is a member of the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research's advisory board.
 
Afghanistan's economy has plunged into a deep crisis since the Islamic Emirate took power almost a year ago and foreign forces withdrew.
 
A sudden drop in aid and other factors, including inflation caused by Ukraine's conflict, have played a role, but economists say the country has been hit hard by its central bank's inability to tap into its reserves.
 
This has led to a sharp decline in the value of the Afghani currency, an increase in the price of imported items, and the near collapse of the banking system.
 
This letter states: "The Central Bank of Afghanistan cannot perform its normal and basic duties without access to its foreign reserves.”Afghanistan's economy has collapsed as predicted."
 
Washington and other capitals say they want to find a way to free up funds for the benefit of the Afghan people while keeping them out of reach of the Islamic Emirate.
 
Of the approximately nine billion dollars of Afghan assets that were frozen after the Islamic Emirate took over, seven billion of them are in a bank in New York, America. The United States has allocated three and a half billion dollars of this money for some families of the victims of the September 11th attacks as compensation, and has set aside the other half as aid to the people of Afghanistan.
 
Meanwhile, foreign media have recently reported that the authorities of the United States and the Islamic Emirate have made proposals to transfer billions of dollars of Afghanistan's central bank reserves, which are blocked outside the country, to a trust fund.
 
In these negotiations, the opposition of the United States to the appointment of the deputy head of the central bank by the Islamic Emirate, which is subject to US sanctions, is one of the problems facing the agreement.
 


Story Code: 256977

News Link :
https://www.avapress.com/en/news/256977/economists-demanded-the-release-of-frozen-funds-afghanistan-by-us

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