Fed Must Protect Afghan Assets From Taliban, GOP Lawmaker Says

(Bloomberg) -- A Republican lawmaker is calling on the Federal Reserve to make sure that official assets held by Afghanistan in the U.S. don’t fall into the hands of the Taliban.

Representative Andy Barr made the request in a letter to New York Fed President John Williams, citing military advances by the Taliban that are threatening the government of President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul amid the U.S. troop withdrawal from the country.

“It is critical that the Federal Reserve ensure that Afghan government financial assets at the Fed do not fall into Taliban control,” Barr, the ranking member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy, said in emailed comments.

“Access to these accounts would bolster the Taliban’s rise after seizure of territory and military resources over the past week,” he said. “I urge the Fed to move quickly to safeguard these assets.”

The goal is to ensure that Afghanistan’s account at the Fed “cannot benefit the Taliban’s malign activities,” including by blocking suspicious activity on the account, Barr said in the letter, of which he provided a copy to Bloomberg News.

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