The former acting governor of the Afghan central bank, who has fled the country, said on Wednesday that nearly all of the bank’s $9 billion in reserves were beyond the reach of the Taliban, who took over the country’s government over the weekend. Ajmal Ahmady, who was appointed to the central bank just over a year ago, said nearly all the money was held overseas, including $7 billion in assets by the Federal Reserve. “We can say the accessible funds to the Taliban are perhaps 0.1-0.2 percent of Afghanistan’s total international reserves,” he wrote. “Not much.”On Tuesday, a Biden administration official said access has been blocked to Afghan central bank reserves held in the United States. This action, which was taken by the Treasury Department, will put economic pressure on the Taliban as they seek to keep public services operating.

Source: International New York Times August 18, 2021 13:39 UTC