Afghan national currency could plunge amid US assets freeze – Russian diplomat – world

MOSCOW, November 20. / TASS /. Afghanistan’s national currency, Afghani, devalues daily amid US decision to freeze country’s financial assets, Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan and director of Foreign Ministry’s second Asia department said , Zamir Kabulov, in an interview with Rossiya-24 television. channel.
“Our Western colleagues have to solve this problem one way or another now. The afghani is being held back and I do not quite understand the reason for this decision,” he said. “Money tends to devalue when it is not in circulation.”
At the same time, Kabulov noted that Afghanistan is experiencing shortages of money, “not just in US dollars, but also in national currency”.
“A series of large companies, national and international, have accumulated large amounts of national currency in their coffers. Apparently they don’t know how to use it, but there is a lack of money in circulation,” he said. -he declares.
On August 15, the US administration froze the Afghan government’s state reserves in US banks in order to prevent the radical movement from accessing funds. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have also halted all aid to Kabul. The assets frozen stand at around $ 9.5 billion.
The Taliban movement (banned in Russia) has embarked on a large-scale operation to take the country under control. Taliban fighters invaded Kabul, the Afghan capital, on August 15, without encountering resistance, with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country. On September 7, the Taliban announced an interim government, which has yet to be recognized by any country.