IMF blocks Afghan’s access to emergency reserves
   Date :20-Aug-2021

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WASHINGTON [US] :
 
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced to block Afghanistan’s access to the emergency reserve worth USD 460 million as the Taliban’s control over the country has drawn uncertainty for the country’s future, a media report said. The decision followed pressure from the Biden administration to ensure that the reserves did not reach the Taliban, New York Times reported. On Tuesday, the Biden administration also froze about USD 9.5 billion of Afghan reserves to keep cash away from the Taliban after it captured Afghanistan.
 
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and personnel at the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had decided to freeze the accounts, Dawn reported citing The Washington Post. “Any central bank assets the Afghan government have in the United States will not be made available to the Taliban,” an administration official told the newspaper in a statement. According to the report, the US State Department, alongwith the White House, was consulted before the action.