US may examine regaining control of Afghan assets transferred to Swiss-based fund: watchdog

Donald Trump administration may want to examine returning Afghan central bank assets from Swiss-based fund to the custody as part of the current review of foreign assistance, a US watchdog said on Thursday.

In 2022, the US transferred $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank assets previously frozen in the United States to the Swiss-based Fund for the Afghan People.

With accrued interest, the Fund has now grown to nearly $4 billion, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a quarterly report.

According to the report, the US has spent nearly $3.71 billion in Afghanistan since withdrawing from the country in 2021. Most of that money (64.2%) went to UN agencies, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, and the World Bank-administered Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund. Another $1.2 billion remains available in the funding pipeline for possible disbursement.

SIGAR said that while the assistance may have staved off famine in the face of economic collapse, it has not dissuaded the IEA from taking US citizens hostage, dismantling the rights of women and girls, allowing the country to become a terrorist safe haven.

The watchdog also said that the IEA exert some control over humanitarian activities and have at times required NGOs to sign memoranda of understanding (MOUs) as a condition for operating in Afghanistan.

On January 20, 2025, President Trump ordered a 90-day pause in U.S. foreign development assistance to assess “programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy.” The order requires all department and agency heads responsible for foreign assistance programs to immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors.