The Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the country’s central bank, now under Taliban control, said it has received a new cash injection of $US 40 million for humanitarian aid in Kabul on Sunday, casting up to the shipment of an average of $40 million a week.
The DAB expressed gratitude for the humanitarian assistance and any support that would foster the banking sector.
Since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, statistics compiled by KabulNow indicate that 31 packages of $40 million and 30 packages of $32 million have reached Afghanistan, totaling more than $2.193 billion in aid.
However, the UN cash shipments have faced criticism from anti-Taliban figures and human rights activists, who argue that they are strengthening the Taliban despite their increasing restrictions on human rights, particularly women’s rights.
In response to these accusations, UNAMA published a detailed explanation in January stating that the cash was spent per UN financial rules and unlike the previous government, these amounts do not go directly to the Taliban-controlled central bank. Instead, deposits are made in a private commercial bank from where aid agencies then withdraw the money in US or Afghani-converted currency to pay local costs.
