The dispute over the Afghan central bank continues to come to a head, while the country suffers from a lack of funding.

While Ajmal Ahmady, who had fled into exile, continues to regard himself as the “acting governor” of the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) and keeping an eye on the country's wealth of money, the Taliban themselves have appointed an “acting governor” in Kabul: Mohammad Idris , the previous head of the group's “Economic Council”.

It will address "emerging banking problems and people's problems with trading and their difficulties," it said.

Christoph Hein

Business correspondent for South Asia / Pacific based in Singapore.

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The people in the country suffer from rapidly rising prices, including for basic foodstuffs, and an increasing shortage of cash.

The World Health Organization (WHO) called on Monday to use empty flights to Kabul to deliver medical goods into the country.

For this week alone, the import of 500 tons of medicines and equipment for operating theaters was planned.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) distributed special drawing rights to its members on Monday, but cut Afghanistan off from the expected more than 450 million dollars in advance.

In the past few days, the Harvard graduate Ahmady, who fled into exile, had warned louder and louder about the rapidly looming economic crisis: The Taliban regime would suffer a whole series of economic shocks, which would lead to a weaker currency and galloping inflation.

China and Pakistan can help

However, neighboring countries like China and Pakistan could help at least temporarily. On the Saturday before the fall of Kabul, DAB had already issued less cash than usual. "That raised the panic," said the 43-year-old who briefly worked for the US Federal Reserve. Since the national currency Afghani is not freely convertible, the dollar and the hawala transfer system common in South Asia via private money carriers remain in border traffic. Both are interrupted. After his escape, Ahmady said he was "disgusted by the government's lack of planning."

The state banks and private institutions in Kabul have also been closed since August 15. ATMs no longer eject notes. If so, then it is at most the equivalent of one hundred dollars, Afghans report. In the middle of last week, the Afghani hit an all-time low against the US dollar, which became the replacement currency again. Since then, the Afghan currency has recovered slightly, but overall it continues its downward trend as expected. Around half of the country's budget is covered by aid payments from abroad, which are now interrupted.

The crisis in Afghanistan threatens to spill over into the region. Government bonds quoted in dollars in neighboring Pakistan, which is supporting the takeover of the Taliban, lost 1.8 percent of their value on Monday. Investors feared that the international community would ostracize Pakistan after the Taliban enjoyed security in the neighboring country and Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the Taliban had "broken the chains of slavery".

After his escape, Ahmady had declared that the self-proclaimed Taliban government would not have access to the country's money.

He puts it at 784.6 billion afghanis (8.26 billion euros).

According to the central bank's overview for June 21, a value of 102.7 billion Afghani is stored in gold, and another 28.8 billion in unspecified currencies.

487 billion are shown as "investments".

Much of the national treasure in America

The vast majority of the country's treasure lies in America, which announced early on that it would freeze $ 9.5 billion in holdings by the central bank.

Washington also stopped due dollar shipments to Afghanistan at the last moment before the Taliban took over the country, Ahmady said.

He estimated the Taliban would only have access to “perhaps 0.1-0.2 percent of Afghanistan's total international reserves.

That is not much."

In the presidential palace occupied by the Taliban, there would be gold bars and silver coins worth only around 12.5 million Afghanis.

In addition, there would be about $ 362 million in the central bank itself, its branches and the palace.