The US State Department officially announced the creation of an external fund to manage the Afghan funds held in it, in coordination with its international partners.

“Washington is committed to supporting the Afghan people in light of the ongoing economic and humanitarian crisis, and by decree of President Joe Biden, the Afghan Central Bank’s $3.5 billion reserves have not fallen into the hands of the Taliban,” the statement said. .

“The Fund will protect, support and make $3.5 billion in targeted disbursements to help bring greater stability to the Afghan economy,” the State Department said in a statement. He stressed that “the Taliban is not part of the Afghan Fund, which intends to eliminate the acute consequences of the economic and humanitarian crisis in the Asian country.”

For his part, U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary Wali Adimo expressed regret in a letter to the Central Bank of Afghanistan, stating that the bank “did not prove its independence from the Taliban and did not fulfill its promise to finance the war against terrorism.” He explained that the fund “will help mitigate the economic problems facing Afghanistan.”

He noted that through this fund, the United States will work closely with its international partners “to facilitate the use of these assets to improve the lives of ordinary people in Afghanistan.”

And on Tuesday evening, the US website The Intercept reported on a plan by the United States to transfer $3.5 billion of Afghan funds held to the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.

The United States confiscated $7 billion of Afghan funds deposited with US financial institutions after they were withdrawn from Afghanistan.

The assets of central banks are usually securities, foreign exchange or gold.