Nov. 1 (Nouvelle Solidarité) – According to a Reuters wire datelined Oct. 29 from Frankfurt, a top central bank official of Da Afghanistan Bank called on European countries including Germany to release their share of the reserves to avoid an economic collapse in his country that could trigger mass migration toward Europe. “The situation is desperate and the amount of cash is dwindling,” Shah Mehrabi, a board member of DAB, told Reuters. “Europe is going to be affected most severely, if Afghanistan does not get access to this money…. You will have a double whammy of not being able to find bread and not being able to afford it. People will be desperate. They are going to go to Europe,” he said.
According to Reuters, Mehrabi hopes that, while the U.S. has recently said it will not release its lion’s share of roughly $9 billion of funds, “European countries might. If reserves remain frozen, Afghan importers will not be able to pay for their shipments, banks will start to collapse, food will become scarce, grocery stores will be empty.”
About $431 million of central bank reserves are held by Germany’s Commerzbank , as well as a further roughly $94 million at the Bundesbank. The Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland, holds a further approximately $660 million.