The United Nations said on Tuesday that four million Afghans are facing “a food emergency” and the majority live in rural areas where $36 million is urgently needed for the coming months to ensure the planting of winter wheat, feed for livestock, and cash assistance for vulnerable families.
Since its takeover by the Taliban, Afghanistan has been facing cash crunch, with global aids freezing and daily limits set on withdrawal from bank accounts. Now, a report in New York Post has claimed that most of the Taliban fighters have not received money in months.
Most of the countries have refused to recognise the Taliban regime, which officially calls the country Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. And so, cash is barely trickling in.
After the Taliban takeover, foreign assistance was frozen and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank halted loans. The United States also stopped $9.4 billion in reserves to the country’s central bank. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) also asked its 39 member nations to block Taliban assets.
In such a scenario, Afghanistan’s econpmy has been crumbling and prices soaring. The United Nations cautioned this week that 97 per cent of Afghanistan’s population could soon go below the poverty line – a worrying level from the pre-Taliban takeover figure of 72 per cent.