Shah Mohammad Mehrabi, Da Afghanistan  Bank (DAB)-Central Bank- supreme council member and board member of the Afghan Trust Fund in Switzerland, said that as a “trustee my role is to protect and preserve” the $3.5 funds of Afghanistan’s foreign reserves along with any generated income to maintain exchange rate and prices stability, and the “ultimate goal is to return these funds for the recapitalization of the Central Bank.”

The Swiss-based Afghan Fund was set up last year with half of about $7 billion in central bank funds that were frozen in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in August 2021 after the Islamic Emirate took control of the country as the last foreign forces withdrew following two decades of war.

According to Mehrabi, the $3.5 billion funds are not intended for humanitarian needs.

“Before these frozen funds can be recapitalized, the United States has set specific requirements that DAB (Da Afghanistan Bank) must fulfill including implementing anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) controls, undertaking capacity-building efforts and accepting a third-party monitor,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference, the acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, called for release of Afghanistan's foreign reserves.

“I request the international community, the UN, to not put pressure on only this one issue. They should put an end to the sanctions. Everyone knows that the private sector has been affected by this and the nation has been affected by this,” he said.

Economist Seyar Qureshi said that until the Islamic Emirate has not been recognized, Afghanistan's assets in reserves will not be released.

“Until this political knot is not solved between the Taliban and the US and its allies—and as long as the Taliban are not recognized—and as long as Islamic Emirate’s leaders are on the UNSC, I don’t think the US will release Afghanistan's assets,” he said.

This comes as Reuters reported that a US-funded audit of Afghanistan's Islamic Emirate-run central bank has failed to win Washington's backing for a return of bank assets from a $3.5 billion Swiss-based trust fund, citing two US officials and a former US official.