The US has said it is working with the UN to infuse liquidity into the Afghan economy.
Amid the economic problems in Afghanistan and while the assets of Afghanistan’s central bank remain frozen, the Biden Administration is taking steps to help Afghanistan’s economy by aiding economic “liquidity” and humanitarian assistance, the US State Department said on Monday.
As a part of such efforts, on Monday the United States delivered a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that would allow humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan to be exempted from the US sanctions on the Islamic Emirate, AFP reported.
“There are currently no humanitarian exemptions from the sanctions regime” imposed on the Taliban in 2015 and for aid workers to “carry out financial transactions with ministries headed by people under sanctions would violate sanctions,” said a diplomat to AFP.
China, however, has blocked the draft resolution and has said it is “against a case-by-case exemption mechanism,” another diplomat familiar with the matter told AFP.
China’s ambassador to the UN, Zhan Jun, has also said humanitarian aid should be delivered to the people of Afghanistan without any hindrance. “Artificially created conditions or restrictions are not acceptable,” Zhan said in a tweet.
The Islamic Emirate meanwhile said they want the United States to release Afghan assets amid the severe economic challenges in the country. Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, said they want the international organizations to help them in getting the Afghan assets released.
“We urged the US many times to release the money. We want the international organizations to help us in this regard,” Karimi said.
On Tuesday, hundreds of people also protested in Kabul over the freezing of the Afghan assets and called on the US to release the money.
Meanwhile, the US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, on Monday said the US is committed to providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. Price said the US is working with the UN to inject liquidity into Afghanistan’s economy.
“We are working with the various UN bodies, including the UNDP, to find creative ways that we can infuse not only humanitarian aid, but also liquidity into the Afghan economy,” he said.
SOURCE: TOLO NEWS
