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Economists and academics from the U.S., U.K., India, France, Canada, Australia and Brazil said they were “deeply concerned with the ongoing economic and humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan” and the U.S. role in “driving them”. express concern”.
Following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the United States froze $7 billion in foreign exchange reserves held by Afghanistan’s central bank with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Another $2 billion was frozen by the United Kingdom, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and a number of other countries, RT reported.
The open letter to President Joe Biden and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the frozen assets were “critical” to the functioning of the Afghan economy, including boosting the food and oil imports that the country relies heavily on.
Economists warned that about half of the Afghan population now faces “severe food insecurity”, adding that despite several factors contributing to the dire economic situation in Afghanistan, the asset freeze of the United States and its allies “especially for Afghanistan” the collapse of the economy has contributed enormously.”
Economists and academics, including 2001 Nobel laureate in economics Joseph Stiglitz and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, denounced the freeze as a “coercive measure” that prevented the Central Bank of Afghanistan (DAB) ) to perform “normal, basic functions.”
The letter also cites an assessment by the International Rescue Committee (a global association for humanitarian relief established at the behest of Albert Einstein), which warned that “the current humanitarian crisis could lead to more More deaths.”
The letter’s signatories also criticized Biden’s decision to put half of the money Washington froze — $3.5 billion — as compensation for victims of terrorism in the United States, including 9/11.
Economists denounced some of the “appalling things” committed by the Taliban government, including the “appalling treatment of women and girls and minorities,” but argued “to a whole people.”
Washington has so far not responded to the appeal. Washington has refused to recognize the new government or return frozen funds since the Taliban took over for about a year. In July, Biden also revoked Afghanistan’s status as a “major non-NATO ally.”
When Biden signed an executive order in February promising $3.5 billion in reparations to victims of terrorism in the United States, the Taliban slammed the move as “theft” and warned it would “reconsider” its response if its plans continued. Washington policy.
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