Former DAB Central Bank Governor || Minister of Industry/Commerce || Econ Advisor || TAPI Board || Harvard MBA & MPA/ID
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Aug 18, 2021 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
This thread is to clarify the location of DAB (Central Bank of Afghanistan) international reserves
I am writing this because I have been told Taliban are asking DAB staff about location of assets
If this is true - it is clear they urgently need to add an economist on their team
First, total DAB reserves were approximately $9.0 billion as of last week.
But this does not mean that DAB held $9.0 billion physically in our vault.
As per international standards, most assets are held in safe, liquid assets such as Treasuries and gold
1/The collapse of the Government in Afghanistan this past week was so swift and complete - it was disorienting and difficult to comprehend.
This is how the events seemed to proceed from my perspective as Central Bank Governor.
2/Although much of the rural areas fell to the Taliban over the past few months, the first provincial capital to fall was just 1 week and two days ago!
On Friday August 6th, Ziranj fell. Over the next 6 days, a number of other provinces fell - particularly in the north.
