Central Banks says it has limited access to foreign assets

KABUL (TOLOnews): The Central Bank of Afghanistan got access to the $1.8 billion in foreign assets, the officials said, adding that the negotiations with the international institutions have been conducted regarding unfreezing of Afghan assets.
Speaking at a press conference of annual activities of Da Afghanistan Bank, Mohammad Abas Samih, marketing operation director of the Central Bank, said that more than $9 billion of Afghan assets have been released and that 79 percent are withheld by the US and the rest is held by seven countries.
“For 19 months, access to Da Afghanistan Bank’s assets was suspended; but we were able through consecutive efforts to get limited access to a small part of it,” he said.
Ahmad Jawas Sadad, head of the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy, said the stability of the Afghani was being recognized by international analysts.
According to Sadad, inflation has dropped from 15.3 percent to 3.5 percent over the last year and the value of the Afghani currency increased compared to the US dollar.
“In the last year, 1401, the price of Afghani currency in exchange for the US dollar increased 1.01 percent. While in the year before, it was 13.8 percent in one year. It (Afghani currency) was stable (against the US dollar) compared to regional countries,” Sadad said.
He said that 3 billion Afghan banknotes were printed in the last year.
“The Central Bank is always working to replace worn-out banknotes. As I said, efforts are underway and the new banknotes were distributed to the markets,” he said.
Sadad said that the bank collected 8.68 billion Afs in revenue in the solar year 1401, which is a 59.5 percent increase compared with the previous year.