Central Bank: Over $1.5 Billion in Cash Aid Received Since Political Change

The international community has provided more than $1.5 billion in cash to Afghanistan since the Islamic Emirate swept into power, a spokesman for the country’s central bank said.

Da Afghanistan Bank (Central Bank) called on the international community to provide their assistance through Afghan banks.

“As part of the humanitarian aid, more than $1.5 billion in cash assistance has arrived in Afghanistan but has been handed over to the commercial bank,” said Haseebullah Noori, a spokesman for Da Afghanistan Bank.

The economists believe that the international aid has not been spent properly and aid has not been effective in reducing poverty in the country.

“Unfortunately, the international humanitarian aid over the past 16 months has not been effective in eliminating poverty and just solved a part of the people’s problems of access to food,” said Mir Shikib, an economist.

This comes as the Ministry of Economy (MoE) said that there is need to invest in development projects in order to alleviate poverty in the country.

“Three issues are important for us. Attracting domestic and foreign investment, launching big economic projects and work on infrastructure, and to begin development projects,” said Abdul Latif Nazari, a spokesman for the MoE.

Earlier, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan’s Reconstruction (SIGAR) said that Washington remains the largest donor to Afghanistan after the Islamic Emirate came to power in the country.

SIGAR said that US agencies denied its request to provide information about spending money in Afghanistan.