The Taliban would be barred from claiming an estimated billions of dollars in Afghan reserves held in the United States.

“No central bank assets of the Afghan government in the United States will be made available to the Taliban,” a US official told AFP.

The International Monetary Fund reported that the previous Afghan regime had $9.4bn in gross reserves at the end of April.

A source told AFP that most of those reserves were kept outside Afghanistan.

The US government has previously confiscated reserves from countries whose governments do not recognize it, such as Venezuela.

Read More: Five Dead Amid Panic At The Afghan Airport As Taliban Proclaim Peacehttps://agnesisika.com/five-dead-amid-panic-at-the-afghan-airport-as-taliban-proclaim-peace/

After the US government named opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s head of state, it freed up some billions of dollars confiscated to pay health sector workers.

Central governments usually keep assets offshore to ensure access to backup funds if their national currency depreciates rapidly.

Last week, Republican lawmaker Andy Barr urged the Federal Reserve to ensure that Afghanistan’s official assets in the US do not fall into the hands of the Taliban.

I sent a letter to @NewYorkFed calling on them to ensure Afghan government financial assets at the Fed don’t fall into Taliban control. Access to these accounts would bolster the Taliban. ⁦@annmarie⁩ for @business⁩ reports ⬇️ https://t.co/10QGoKwW0o

— Rep. Andy Barr (@RepAndyBarr) August 15, 2021

“Access to these accounts will fuel the rise of the Taliban,” said Mr. Barr, a ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee’s national security panel.

Mr Barr made the request in a letter to New York Fed Chairman John Williams.

The Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of US and allied troops has alarmed the international community.

On Monday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Britain was considering imposing sanctions on the Taliban.

Mr Raab said Britain would use “all financial means at our disposal” to put pressure on the Taliban.

Source: Independent. Co.Uk