Afghan central bank urges US to reverse decision on frozen assets

People walk past Da Afghanistan Bank building in Kabul on Oct 10, 2021. (WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP)

KABUL- Afghan central bank on Sunday issued a statement, calling for the reversal of the US government's decision on splitting the frozen Afghan assets in the United States.

The Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB)'s statement came after US President Biden signed an executive order on Friday to free $7 billion out of more than $9 billion frozen Afghan assets, splitting the money between humanitarian aid for cash-strapped Afghanistan and a fund for 9/11 victims.

The Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB)'s statement came after US President Biden signed an executive order on Friday to free $7 billion out of more than $9 billion frozen Afghan assets, splitting the money between humanitarian aid for cash-strapped Afghanistan and a fund for 9/11 victims

"DAB considers the latest decision of USA on blocking Foreign Exchange (FX) Reserves and allocating them to irrelevant purposes, injustice to the people of Afghanistan and will never accept if the FX reserves of Afghanistan is paid under the name of compensation or humanitarian assistance to others and wants the reversal of the decision and release of all FX reserves of Afghanistan," the bank said.

"As per the law and relevant regulations, FX reserves of Afghanistan are used to implement monetary policy, facilitate international trade and stabilize financial sector," the statement read.

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The real owners of these reserves are people of Afghanistan. These reserves were not the property of governments, parties and groups and is never used as per their demand and decisions, the bank's statement added.

Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman of the Taliban political office in Qatar, on Friday criticized the decision on splitting the frozen Afghan assets in the United States.

"Stealing the blocked funds of Afghan nation by the United States and its seizure is indicative of the lowest level of human and moral decay of a country and a nation," Naeem wrote on Twitter.

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