![]() When asked under what conditions disbursements would resume, Sanchez-Bender declined to respond. “We are deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan and the impact on the country’s development prospects, especially for women,” World Bank spokesperson Marcela Sanchez-Bender said in a statement. On Tuesday, the World Bank said that it had “paused disbursements” - giving money for aid and development projects - to Afghanistan over instability concerns there. “People have cash there, and they are holding on to it.” With government employees not being paid and banks not open, even everyday commerce is hard. ![]() 17, the local currency has been relatively stable, probably because it has been practically frozen - it is now nearly impossible to move money in or out of the country. 15, trading in the afghani, the country’s currency, slumped, falling by almost 8 percent against the U.S. Shortly after President Ashraf Ghani’s government fell on Aug. This week, a high-level Taliban delegation met with Afghan civil society representatives in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.Afghanistan watchers and financial experts said it is the latest sign that without further intervention from the international community, the country’s economy could suffer even more than it has in recent weeks. envoy, said in a video briefing from Kabul that it is clear donors are still not satisfied with political progress by the Taliban, either in including greater ethnic diversity in its government or in ensuring girls’ higher education and women’s opportunities to work. Polyansky warned that the consequences of Afghanistan’s economic collapse will not only increase the number of refugees but will “spread terrorist activity, boost drug production and, as a result, lead to even greater instability both in the region and beyond.” “The money belongs to the Afghan people and cannot be used for bargaining or as a tool to punish the Afghans for the new reality that has evolved in their country.” “We call on the United States and other Western donors to get the money back to the country,” he said. launched two weeks ago for Afghanistan - the largest in the U.N.’s history for a single country - “is roughly the same amount that donors spent on the entire operating budget of the government.” Most of that budget support came from the United States.ĭeputy Russian Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky warned that unless the issue of unfreezing Afghanistan’s assets is quickly solved “Afghanistan has no long-term prospects to make it out of this crisis.” special representative for Afghanistan, told the council that the more than $4.4 billion humanitarian appeal the U.N. He said the remaining $1.2 million should be released urgently to help Afghans survive the winter.ĭeborah Lyons, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF and the World Food Program. Guterres said the World Bank’s reconstruction trust fund for Afghanistan transferred $280 million last month to the U.N. The international community froze Afghanistan’s assets abroad and halted economic support, unwilling to work with the Taliban, given the brutality during their 1996-2001 rule and refusal to educate girls and allow women to work. Afghanistan’s aid-dependent economy was already stumbling when the Taliban seized power last August amid the chaotic departure of U.S.
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