Washington: As Afghanistan faces a severe financial crisis, the United Stated has allowed the international banks to transfer money to the crisis-torn country for humanitarian purposes, local media reported.
As per the new announcement of the US, aid groups and international banks will violate no sanctions by doing so, Khaama Press reported. This comes a week after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Afghanistan is “hanging by a thread”.
According to Khaama Press, the US Department of Treasury has said the international banks can process transactions related to humanitarian operations that include settlement, clearing, and transfer through or otherwise involving privately owned and state-owned Afghan depository institutions.
Based on the permission of the US Treasury, these transactions include signing agreements to provide aid directly to the Afghan people, general aid coordination, including import, administration, and sharing the office.
“Payments of taxes, fees, or import duties to, or the purchase or receipt of permits, licences, or public utility services from” the Taliban, Haqqani Network or any entity in which they own more than 50 per cent is authorised for humanitarian operations, the Treasury said, Khaama Press reported.
The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically since the Taliban took control of Kabul.
A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban, have plunged the country, already suffering from high poverty levels, into a full-blown economic crisis.
