GOP lawmaker aims to block Taliban from accessing international funds
Kentucky | August 20, 2021
A Republican congressman on Friday introduced legislation aimed at blocking the Taliban in Afghanistan from accessing the International Monetary Fund.
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), the ranking member of the House Financial Services subcommittee on national security, authored the bill as an effort to build on early steps that seek to cut off the Taliban from accessing the international financial institution.
World powers have yet to recognize the Taliban’s self-declared state of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, following the insurgent group’s lightning-fast takeover of the country and ousting on Sunday of the Western-backed Afghan government in Kabul.
The Biden administration, which is coming under intense criticism for Afghanistan’s collapse, has sought to manage the fallout of the Taliban’s takeover by working to freeze the country’s assets in the U.S. and abroad.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday froze $450 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) that was scheduled to be dispersed to Afghanistan next week. SDR is a financial asset of the IMF that is lent out to countries so they can access cash based on current market value.
The IMF made the move reportedly under pressure from the Biden administration, which also reportedly acted to freeze Afghan assets in U.S. central banks and the Federal Reserve in an effort to block access by the Taliban…. (Excerpts from the Hill)