After the recent, shocking development of the Taliban taking over Afghanistan in a matter of few days, confusion prevails in the world order. Many nations are debating whether to accept the Taliban as legitimate power. Social media companies are also unclear on how to treat the Taliban’s presence on their platforms.
IMF’s Clear Stance
It is still quite unclear how the Taliban’s treatment of the people of Afghanistan will be, considering its history of violence, terrorism, and its strict interpretation of Sharia law. However, recently, the IMF made a clear stance towards the Taliban.
The IMF was to give access to Afghanistan to use its funds in order to help it come out of its economic crisis. However, the Taliban will now not have any access whatsoever to the IMF’s reserves, particularly the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) assets.
The IMF draws its clarity from the hesitancy and debate that is ongoing among many nations of the world. Considering the dark past of the Taliban and its extremist ideology, the signatories state that the Taliban’s access to nearly half a billion dollars in unconditional liquidity is a matter of concern.
Taliban’s New Image
In June, the UN published a report which went into the many illegal activities being conducted under the Taliban’s power and influence. Hence, the new soft image which the Taliban is now presenting, especially on social media platforms, may not likely be trustworthy.
Many people in Afghanistan are still under fear and are hiding in their homes. After all, the Taliban has not seen the recent protests too kindly. Many Afghanis have tried to flee to escape from the submission to the Taliban and have died in their attempts to do so.
The Biden Administration’s Stance
Even the Biden Administration recently made it absolutely clear that the Afghan Government’s central bank assets will not be given to the Taliban. In all probability, the Taliban is never likely to receive any aid from the US government. After all, the US Treasury has a controlling share in the fund, which Afghanistan would have received if not for this recent development.
This is not the first time that the IMF has denied access to countries for its fund. Venezuela, in 2019, faced the same treatment after the legitimacy of the presidential elections where Nicolas Maduro shone was questioned.
In Conclusion
This is truly a sad development for the people of Afghanistan as the regressive mentality of the Taliban slows them down. While the IMF is completing its 650 billion dollars allocation of SDRs to its 190 member countries in order to crawl out of the economic devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Taliban remains under the shadow and uncertainty of the Taliban’s rule.
