By Bibi Amina Hakimi in TOLOnews Online, May 17, 2023 at 10:11 PM
US Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in letter to the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) expressed concerns over the “Taliban’s misuse and diversion of US-funded humanitarian and development assistance flowing into Afghanistan.”
The letter was also signed by some other members of the House of Representatives.
“While the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan undeniable, it is essential that US provided assistance benefits suffering Afghans rather than the Taliban,” they wrote.
But the Ministry of Economy denied the claims in the letter of the US representatives, saying that the Islamic Emirate is attempting to provide aid with transparency.
“We not only interfere in international aid but we provide further facilities for it. Our monitoring is aimed at reaching the people who deserve it, through transparency,” said Abdul Latif Nazari, Deputy Minister of Economy.
Afghanistan plunged into a severe economic crisis after the collapse of the former government that followed with the suspension of international aid and the freezing of more than $9 billion in foreign reserves.
“One of the reasons that this aid does not reach the people who are in need of it, is that they (Taliban) support their own ruling in Afghanistan,” said Sayed Masoud, an economist.
This comes as some economists say that international aid will not solve economic challenges until it is directed at development projects.
“Unfortunately, it has been 42 years that we are being provided with aid. We don’t have any positive result. Its results could be seen when we do fundamental work,” said Abdul Baseer Taraki, an economist.
“Investment of international aid in major economic and intrastromal projects can create jobs and also increase the level of production and it will also increase the level of income,” said Seyar Qureshi, an economist.
Last month, speaking to the US House Oversight Committee, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconciliation (SIGAR) John Sopko testified that he cannot say whether the US assistance is currently not “funding the Taliban.”
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-183403
