The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said that the US remains the largest donor to the Afghan people, having appropriated more than $2.35 billion since the Islamic Emirate takeover in August 2021.

SIGAR, in its quarterly report to the US Congress, said that “Taliban interference in humanitarian assistance is the main barrier to beneficiaries accessing aid in 2023 ... there were a total of 110 access incidents related to Taliban interference in April 2023 alone.”

Economist Mir Shikib Mir said that many countries are reducing their assistance to Afghanistan due to reports about the Islamic Emirate's interference in the aid process.

“The interference of the Taliban in the aid process has been repeatedly reported, and therefore, many countries have reduced their assistance due to the concerns they have,” he said.

But the Islamic Emirate denied interference in the aid process to the vulnerable people.

“We deny the SIGAR report. The Islamic Emirate has no interference in distribution of aid. We have accurate monitoring on the distribution of assistance to Afghanistan,” said Abdul Latif Nazari, Deputy Minister of Economy.

SIGAR said that a third-party assessment of Afghanistan’s central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), showed that it lacked independence from the “Taliban regime and had deficiencies in anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.”

“Half of DAB’s assets that were previously held in the United States are now a part of the Afghan Fund, a Swiss charitable fund to be used to benefit the Afghan people. Treasury has said that DAB must prove its independence and the ability to counter illicit financing before the funds can be returned,” the report said.

Ahmad Jawas Sadad, head of the Central Bank's Monetary Policy, denied SIGAR’s assessment about the lack of Da Afghanistan Bank’s independence.

“There is no interference by the government in the banking affairs. The central bank is running its activities with absolute independence,” he said.

Earlier the US Department of State also spoke of the Islamic Emirate's interference in the aid process.