Crisis of mistrust renews Washington's refusal to release Afghanistan's banking assets
Afghanistan is experiencing a crisis due to the United
States refusing to release the country’s banking assets since the Taliban
seized power in the country in mid-August 2021, despite the deterioration of
the humanitarian conditions in the country, without the movement itself being
affected by the crisis, and Washington’s insistence not to release those assets
is exacerbating the economic crisis in the country that is suffering collapse
in all sectors.
Beginning of the crisis
The beginning of the crisis of frozen Afghan banking assets dates back to August 2021 when the Taliban seized
power in the country, as many global financial institutions began to take
precautionary steps, fearing the movement's disposal of the country's funds in
illegal matters or support for terrorist groups.
More than $470 million from the International Monetary Fund
was supposed to reach Afghanistan one week after the movement took power as
part of the IMF's response to the global economic crisis, but that did not
happen.
The administration of US President Joe Biden also announced
that the assets of the Afghan government in the United States were no longer
available, and the US Treasury Department made it clear at the time that the
Taliban would not receive any financial aid supported by the United States.
Washington has withheld about $7
billion in Afghan assets held by the Federal Reserve in the form of safe,
liquid assets such as bonds and gold.
Developments and suggestions
A process also began to partially unfreeze Afghan assets
abroad after establishing a special fund for it in Switzerland during September
2022 with the aim of returning funds withheld since the Taliban came to power
to the Afghan Central Bank, which is managed by the Bank for International
Settlements (BIS) in Basel, but the fund has not been able to solve that crisis
so far in light of the stalled negotiations that increase the suffering of the
Afghan people.
The frozen BIS assets amount to about $3.5
billion, equivalent to half of the frozen funds since the Taliban took
power in 2021, which were not affected by this problem, and the entire Afghan
people bear the bill for that crisis. This made a number of Afghan economists
and academics make suggestions for an alternative solution to this problem,
including that the money be returned in the form of monthly installments to the
Afghan Central Bank to ensure price stability and to solve the problems that
the Afghan people suffer from, while ensuring that these installments can be
stopped in the event that the Taliban uses these funds for purposes other than
intended.
Crisis of mistrust
The crisis of mistrust in the Taliban movement by the
international community is seen in its failure to adhere to and fulfill its
pledges that it agreed upon in the Doha Agreement before it came to power, by
not providing safe havens for terrorist groups to operate on Afghan soil, in
addition to the movement’s failure to cooperate with international and relief
organizations in an appropriate manner, all of which led to the faltering of
any solution to the crisis of frozen Afghan funds.
The facts also proved the existence of suspicious relations
between the Taliban and armed groups, including al-Qaeda, after the
announcement of the killing of the organization's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in
a building belonging to the Minister of Interior in the Taliban's interim
government, in addition to the problems caused by the movement's support for
the Pakistani wing of the Taliban.