World Bank halts aid to Afghanistan

(News 1st): The World Bank has halted funding for projects in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the country, citing concerns over how the Taliban's takeover will impact "the country's development prospects, especially for women". The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also suspended payments to Afghanistan recently. Moreover, the Biden administration has also frozen the assets of Afghanistan's central bank that are held in the U.S. A World Bank Spokesperson said that the situation in Afghanistan is being closely monitored and assessed in line with internal policies and procedures. The IMF halted Afghanistan accessing over $440m of new monetary reserves while the Afghanistan Bank has reserves of roughly $9bn, most of which is held in the US.