Ahadi (file photo)

Akmal Dawi
VOA News
February 21, 2024

Sixteen months after its establishment, the U.S.-backed Fund for the Afghan People has yet to release any payments for its intended purposes, a board member reveals.

The fund, created using half of Afghanistan’s frozen assets in the United States, aims to help stabilize the Afghan economy without benefiting the de facto Taliban authorities.

Established in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, the Switzerland-based fund holds $3.5 billion that formerly belonged to the Afghan Central Bank. It is authorized to support activities such as paying Afghanistan’s debts to international organizations, funding electricity imports and even printing currency.

“I’m surprised that they [the Taliban] have not asked for any payment so far,” Anwar ul-Haq Ahady, a co-chair of the fund’s board of trustees, told VOA.

Ahady emphasized his willingness to facilitate the funding of authorized activities.

Taliban officials declined to comment.

Despite the fund’s inaction, the Taliban recently announced payment of outstanding electricity bills using domestic funds.

Additionally, a European donor helped settle Afghanistan’s World Bank debt last year, unlocking new bank aid.

Last week, the World Bank announced it had approved a new approach to Afghanistan aimed at supporting income-generating activities. Under the new approach, work will be resumed on a $1.2 billion project that will bring clean energy from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan via Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is also in arrears to the Asian Development Bank, resulting in a hold on the ADB’s regular assistance programs since 2021.

Ahady said the fund would consider paying the ADB debt.

“But we are the last resort,” he added.

Saving the assets

Over $9 billion in Afghan assets remain frozen in the U.S., Europe and the United Arab Emirates, inaccessible to the Taliban.

In the U.S., $3.5 billion face claims from 9/11 victims’ families. It is unclear if that frozen portion generates interest like the funds in Switzerland.

The fund has already accrued more than $200 million in interest in less than two years, according to Ahady.

“Afghans see this as their national treasure,” said Masuda Sultan of Unfreeze Afghanistan, an organization advocating the release of the frozen assets. “Afghans believe the funds should not be used to pay for consumption of goods and services.”

Despite dire poverty in Afghanistan, the fund in Switzerland is not earmarked for immediate humanitarian needs — a deliberate choice, according to Ahady.

“Humanitarian needs are so huge at this juncture that [if used], this amount of money [the fund] will disappear quickly,” he said.

The United States and other donors have given billions in humanitarian assistance to Afghans over the past two years.

As the Taliban remain a pariah regime widely condemned for their repressive policies, the future of the frozen assets remains uncertain.

“The funds belong to Da Afghanistan Bank,” said Ahady, referring to the Afghan Central Bank, now governed by the Taliban.

The now $3.74 billion fund can only be released if the Afghan Central Bank demonstrably acts independently from the Taliban and complies with anti-terrorism safeguards.