WASHINGTON
\nThe United States said on Wednesday it was setting up an outside, professionally-run fund to manage $3.5 billion in Afghanistan\u2019s reserves, concluding it cannot trust the Taliban leadership with the country\u2019s money.
\nThe decision comes after talks between the Taliban and the United States failed to convince President Joe Biden\u2019s administration that it should hand over assets frozen when the militants returned to power 13 months ago, despite the dire humanitarian needs in Afghanistan.
\nThe new Afghan Fund, based in Geneva, will be put in charge of core central bank functions such as paying Afghanistan\u2019s international debt, electricity imports and for future necessities such as printing currency.
\nIn a letter to Afghanistan\u2019s central bank, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo voiced regret that it had not addressed US concerns including demonstrating independence from the Taliban, enforcing pre-Taliban commitments against counter-terrorism funding and money laundering, and bringing in a reputable outside monitor.
\n\u201cThere is currently no institution in Afghanistan that can guarantee that these funds would be used only for the benefit of the people of Afghanistan, including DAB,\u201d he wrote, using the acronym of the central Da Afghanistan Bank.
\n\u201cUntil these conditions are met, sending assets to DAB would place them at unacceptable risk and jeopardise them as a source of support for the Afghan people,\u201d he wrote in a letter.
\n\u201cThe Afghan Fund will protect, preserve and make targeted disbursements of that $3.5 billion to help provide greater stability to the Afghan economy,\u201d the US Treasury said in a statement.
\nUS officials said that no money would go to the Afghan central bank, known as DAB, until it is \u201cfree of political interference\u201d \u2014 diplomatic parlance for replacing the bank\u2019s top Taliban officials, two of whom are under US and UN sanctions, with banking professionals \u2014 and anti-money laundering safeguards are instituted.
\n\u201cUntil these conditions are met, sending assets to DAB would place them at unacceptable risk and jeopardise them as a source of support for the Afghan people,\u201d US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Ademeyo said in a letter to the central bank\u2019s Supreme Council.
\nThe DAB said the central bank\u2019s reserves belonged to the Afghan people and their purpose was to ensure currency stability, the strength of the financial system, and facilitating international trade.
\n\u201cAny decision regarding the assignment, use or transfer of the reserves for unrelated goals is unacceptable to DAB,\u201d a DAB statement said.
\nThe new foundation is based in Geneva and has an account with the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which provides financial services to central banks.
\n\u201cThe BIS is establishing a customer relationship with the Fund for the Afghan People. The BIS role is limited to providing banking services to and executing the instructions of the Board of Trustees of the Fund without involvement in the Fund\u2019s governance or decision making,\u201d the BIS said, adding it would comply with all applicable sanctions and regulations.
\nThe Swiss government said it would support the foundation that it helped Washington set up by contributing finance and development expertise. It named foreign ministry official Alexandra Baumann as its board representative.Biden in February sequestered \u201cfor the benefit of the Afghan people\u201d the $3.5 billion in DAB assets to be transferred into the new trust fund.
\nThe other $3.5 billion is being contested in lawsuits against the Taliban stemming from the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Courts could decide to release that money, which could be deposited in the new trust fund.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON The United States said on Wednesday it was setting up an outside, professionally-run fund to manage $3.5 billion in Afghanistan\u2019s reserves, concluding it cannot trust the Taliban leadership with the country\u2019s money. The decision comes after talks between the Taliban and the United States failed to convince President Joe Biden\u2019s administration that it should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-283682","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n