The World Bank has halted funding for projects in Afghanistan following the violent takeover of the country’s administration by the Taliban group.
The multilateral banking institution cited concerns over how the Taliban’s takeover will affect “the country’s development prospects, especially for women” as the basis of its latest decision.
The latest move by the World Bank Group came just days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended payments to Afghanistan just as the President Joe Biden’s administration also froze the Afghanistan central bank’s assets held in the U.S.
Available data showed that since 2002, the World Bank has committed more than $5.3 billion to reconstruction and development projects in Afghanistan.
A news report by BBC quoted a World Bank spokesperson as saying that the Washington-based banking institution has “paused disbursements in our operations in Afghanistan and we are closely monitoring and assessing the situation in line with our internal policies and procedures.
“We will continue to consult closely with the international community and development partners. Together with our partners we are exploring ways we can remain engaged to preserve hard-won development gains and continue to support the people of Afghanistan”, the spokesperson added.
The decision by the World Bank to suspend payments to Afghanistan is the latest financial blow to the country’s new government.
It would be recalled that last week following the forceful takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban group, the IMF had announced that Afghanistan would no longer be able to access its funds due to “lack of clarity within the international community” over recognizing a government in Afghanistan.
Before the announcement, about $440 million of new monetary reserves had been set to be made available to the country from Monday, 23 August.
This is even shortly after the Taliban group took control of Kabul, the White House stated that Afghanistan’s central bank’ assets, including the country’s central bank’s reserves of about $9 billion, in the U.S. would not be accessible to the Taliban group.
