INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A United States funded audit of Afghanistan&s Islamic Emirate-run central bank has failed to win Washington&s backing for a return of bank
assets from a $3.5 billion Swiss-based trust fund, said two United States officials and a former United States official, a move that would
help ease the country&s financial crisis, Reuters reported.The audit has not changed the United States Treasury&s view that the bank must
make reforms before the department will support disbursements from the Afghan Fund to Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), said a United States
Treasury official on condition of anonymity.The Swiss-based Afghan Fund was set up last year with half of about $7 billion in central bank
funds that were frozen in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in August 2021 after IEA took control of the country as the last foreign
forces withdrew following two decades of war.DAB must show that it is free &from political influence and interference,& said the Treasury
official, referring to the need for professional bankers to replace the three IEA officials who oversee the bank and are under United States
sanctions.It also must prove that it has &adequate& controls against money-laundering and terrorism financing and install a &reputable&
independent monitor, said the Treasury official.Our assessment of DAB remains unchanged,& said one of the United States officials
Reuters quoted the two officials and the former United States official, who has knowledge of the United States position, spoke on
condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the matter.The IEA administration spokesman and a spokesperson for the Afghan
central bank did not respond to request for comment.Concerns in Washington and other capitals about the bank&s leadership and anti-money
laundering safeguards are at the heart of a standoff over the IEA&s demand for the return of DAB cash frozen in the United States and other
countries after the Islamic Emirate return.Because the four-member board that oversees the trust fund must approve disbursements
unanimously, the support of its United States government representative is essential.Afghanistan remains mired in grave humanitarian and
economic crises that some experts say has been worsened by United States restrictions hampering DAB&s ability to perform key central bank
functions, such as ensuring stable exchange rates and prices, read the report.The audit, funded by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and conducted by an outside contractor, examined DAB&s controls against money laundering and terrorism
financing, and its banking oversight and payments departments, according to an April report by the United States Special Inspector General
for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).The findings have not been made public, Reuters reported.Calling the audit, a &preliminary
assessment,& the Treasury official said its &limitations& suggested that &more comprehensive third-party assessment efforts may be
needed.Shah Mehrabi, an Afghan-American economics professor who is on DAB&s governing board and co-chairs the Afghan Fund board, said the
audit & which he has not seen & was completed in March and currently is with the State Department.The State Department declined to
comment.Mehrabi and his co-chair, Anwar ul-Haq Ahady, a former DAB governor and former finance minister, told Reuters that they would
consider the findings once they are available.Mehrabi said use of the Afghan Fund&s assets should focus on stabilizing prices and ensuring
banks had enough liquidity, as the entire financial system was at risk from declining foreign donor funds to Afghanistan.The other $3.5
billion in DAB assets frozen in US is being sought in lawsuits against the IEA brought by families of victims of the Sept
11, 2001, attacks on the United States
A United States judge in February ruled against the plaintiffs who are appealing.The post Audit fails to win United States backing for
release of Afghan central-bank funds first appeared on Ariana News.
