IMF suspends Afghanistan's access to funds

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Afghanistan will no longer be able to access the lender’s resources. The move follows the Taliban’s takeover of the country last weekend. An IMF spokesperson said it was due to lack of clarity within the international community over recognising a government in Afghanistan. Resources of over 370 million $ from the IMF had been set to arrive on 23 August. These funds were part of a global IMF response to the economic crisis.
Access to the IMF’s reserves in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) assets, which can be converted to government-backed money, have also been blocked. SDRs are the IMF’s unit of exchange based on sterling, dollars, euros, yen and yuan. As is always the case, the IMF is guided by the views of the international community, the spokesperson added. It comes after an official from the Biden administration told the BBC that any central bank assets the Afghan government has in the US will not be made available to the Taliban.