The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that it will suspend funding to Afghanistan due to the uncertain situation.
The IMF spokesman said that the IMF always seeks guidance from the international community. Due to the uncertain situation, the country cannot access IMF resources.
The IMF was due to release 46 460 million in emergency funds to Afghanistan next week. On the other hand, the United States has also frozen $9.5 billion in assets of the Afghan Central Bank.
The United States has said that the assets of the Afghan government’s central bank will not reach the Taliban. In 2019, the IMF suspended Venezuela’s SDR access after more than 50 member countries representing a majority of the Fund’s shareholding refused to recognize President Nicolas Maduro’s government following his disputed re-election.
The IMF also suspended dealings with Myanmar after the military seized power in a February coup. The IMF is due on Monday to complete a $650 billion allocation of SDRs – the fund’s unit of exchange based on dollars, euros, yen, sterling, and yuan – to its 190 member countries in proportion to their shareholdings in the Fund.
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The increase in reserves is aimed at bolstering the balance sheets of poorer countries that have been severely strained by the coronavirus pandemic. The IMF will allocate 310 million SDRs on Afghanistan’s behalf, an IMF spokesperson said. That is valued at about $440 million based on Wednesday’s SDR exchange rate.
