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Afghanistan's finances
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Has Achieved Nirvana
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posted
P*D? jon? Doug? Would love to hear your thoughts...

quote:
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. In a series of Twitter posts, he added that $1.3 billion in assets were held by other international accounts and about $700 million were held by the Bank of International Settlements, which is based in Switzerland and acts as a bank for central banks.

“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.


https://www.nytimes.com/2021/0...an-central-bank.html


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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

 
Posts: 38217 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Minor Deity
Picture of Mikhailoh
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Maybe Allah will provide.

Maybe not.


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"A mob is a place where people go to get away from their conscience" Atticus Finch

 
Posts: 13649 | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
"I've got morons on my team."

Mitt Romney
Minor Deity
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I haven't looked into this, and on the legal aspects I have no expertise at all.

My hunch is that the bulk of the "reserves" of the Afghan central bank came from the Fed. And the Afghan government probably "owes" the US many times more than its existing reserves. I put these things in quotes because I'm sure there are serious questions about what each term means in current circumstances (practically and legally).

But if I'm 1/10 right, the US probably has lots of leverage over Afghanistan's future finances. We would probably resist calls to "free up" those funds, since we probably have a good claim to them. This is possible leverage over current and future Taliban behavior.

Anybody notice how US forces are currently swarming in Kabul and we're not hearing about any serious violence between them and Taliban forces? Could there just possibly be lots of back channel communications? Leverage.
 
Posts: 12759 | Location: Williamsburg, VA | Registered: 19 July 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Minor Deity
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I'm sure there is a lot of that. It is not in the Taliban's interests to engage US or allied troops.


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"A mob is a place where people go to get away from their conscience" Atticus Finch

 
Posts: 13649 | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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