Speaking to reporters at the United Nations yesterday, Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on the United States to release the Afghan central bank assets it has had frozen since last August, stressing the urgency of injecting liquidity into the Afghan economy, to avoid a complete breakdown that will worsen hunger, poverty, destitution and death. This afternoon, Guterres is scheduled to speak with Secretary of State Tony Blinken, in the company of Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths and Peter Maurer, director of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), precisely to address the issue of releasing the frozen funds. He is also calling on the international community to support the UN’s appeal to raise $5 billion for Afghanistan. (https://www.un.org/sg/en/node/261394 )
Guterres emphasized that “we are in a race against time to help the Afghan people…. Freezing temperatures and frozen assets are a lethal combination for the people of Afghanistan. Rules and conditions that prevent money from being used to save lives and the economy must be suspended in this emergency situation,” he warned. “Jump-starting the banking system is essential to avoid economic collapse and to enable humanitarian operations. The function of Afghanistan’s Central Bank must be preserved and assisted, and a path identified for conditional release of Afghan foreign currency reserves.”
Al Jazeera raised the Jan. 14 meeting among Griffiths, Maurer, and himself with Blinken, and asked, “What does the U.S. need to do and what moral duty does it have to prevent the breakdown of the financial system in Afghanistan?” to which Guterres replied: “Well, it is absolutely essential to avoid that breakdown, because with the present situation, you have Afghans on the verge of death. I’m talking of concrete death on the ground because of hunger, because of disease and because of lack of assistance.”
