IMF suspends its engagement with Afghanistan

The International Monetary Fund has said its engagement with Afghanistan will remain suspended until there is clarity within the international community on the recognition of the government led by the TalibanThe IMF said it was deeply concerned with economic conditions in Afghanistan urging the international community to take urgent steps to stall a looming humanitarian crisis in the countryldquoOur engagement with Afghanistan has been suspended until there is clarity within the international community on the recognition of the governmentrdquo IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice told reporters at a news conference here on ThursdayldquoWersquore guided by the international community in terms of the recognition of the government in Afghanistan and we donrsquot have that So the IMF programme there has been put on hold and again as we said last month the country cannot access IMF resources SDRs and so on at this pointrdquo he saidThe Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on August 15 ousting the previous elected leadership which was backed by the West The interim Cabinet announced by the Taliban consists of highprofile members of the insurgent groupSeveral world leaders have announced they would see whether the Taliban fulfils its promises to the international community on issues like an inclusive Afghan government and human rights before giving their regime diplomatic recognitionAfghanistan was already facing chronic poverty and drought but the situation has deteriorated since the Taliban seized power last month with the disruption of aid the departure of tens of thousands of people including government and aid workers and the collapse of much economic activityForeign donors have suspended aid to Afghanistan saying disbursements are contingent on the behaviour of the new Talibanled government which has not been recognised by any countryOrdinary bank transfers to individuals in Afghanistan have also been blocked That has left ordinary Afghans reeling from rocketing inflation rising poverty cash shortages a plummeting currency and rising unemploymentRice however said the IMF stands ready to work with the international community to advocate for urgent actions to stall a looming humanitarian crisisThe IMF is deeply concerned with the difficult economic situation in Afghanistan and the humanitarian situation in AfghanistanldquoWe have said the immediate focus should indeed be on that humanitarian situation aid to help the Afghanistan people and allowing the flow of remittances and smallscale transfers and providing assistance to countries hosting Afghan refugeesrdquo he saidThe IMFs warning comes after United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres said earlier that Afghanistan faces a ldquohumanitarian catastropherdquo and a complete collapse of basic services under Taliban ruleGuterres told an international aid conference this week that Afghans were facing perhaps their most perilous hour Donors at the conference pledged more than USD 11 billion to help AfghanistanUN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has said that even before the Taliban took over last month more than 18 million Afghans or about half the population required humanitarian aidOver 35 million Afghans were already displaced in a country that is battling drought and the COVID19 pandemicThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever