The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently announced a $650 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation for member countries, but Afghanistan at the moment will not be allowed to access these funds.
According to IMF, the SDR allocation, which was made on August 23rd, will benefit all IMF members and will address the long-term global need for reserves and foster the resilience and stability of the global economy.
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday at a press conference that Afghanistan will not have access to this grant because of the uncertainty over Afghanistan's government.
“Our engagement with Afghanistan has been suspended until there is clarity within the international community on the recognition of the government. We're guided by the international community in terms of the recognition of the government in Afghanistan, and we don't have that. So, the IMF program there, which you asked about, has been put on hold. And again, as we said last month, the country cannot access IMF resources, SDRs and so on at this point. But again, I want to say that we stand ready to work with the international community to advocate for urgent actions to stall a looming humanitarian crisis,” said Rice.
According to IMF, $275 billion of the new allocation will go to developing and low-income countries.
Rice said IMF is deeply concerned about the difficult economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Regardless of the current inaccessibility of the SDR funds, a number of economic analysts, meanwhile, welcomed IMF’s position regarding humanitarian aid for the people of Afghanistan, saying the world should not leave the people of Afghanistan alone at this critical time.
“This is good news that IMF is voicing its concern about the bad economic situation in Afghanistan. This can pave the way for further international help to Afghanistan,” said Sayed Massoud, a university lecturer.
Afghanistan's banking assets have also been frozen since the Taliban takeover on August 15, and the country is struggling with deep economic problems.
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