美国国家公共电台 NPR--Frozen Afghan bank reserves contribute to the country's economic collapse

Frozen Afghan bank reserves contribute to the country's economic collapse¹

Transcript²

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to economist³ Shah Mehrabi, member of the Supreme⁴ Council of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, about Afghan Central Bank reserves that remain frozen in the U.S.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

One year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the Afghan central bank is still short of cash. The United States holds many of its assets. It's frozen them for a year since neither the U.S. nor any other country has recognized the Taliban rulers as legitimate⁵. When we recently visited Kabul, former President Hamid Karzai said the money should come back.

HAMID KARZAI: Americans should return Afghanistan's reserves.

INSKEEP: The $7 billion or so?

KARZAI: The $7 billion. That does not belong to any government. They belong to the Afghan people.

INSKEEP: The absence of the money has contributed to Afghanistan's economic collapse. President Biden has held back some of the money, while some 9/11 victims seek a share of it in court. The future of the rest is uncertain. And a man named Shah Mehrabi says much remains⁶ on U.S. account books and even in storage.

SHAH MEHRABI: Dollars, deposits, bonds, treasury⁷ bills and gold that were all held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

INSKEEP: Mehrabi gave us one perspective on Afghanistan's central bank. The old Afghan government named him to its supreme council.

MEHRABI: It is a board that is in charge of policymaking and the highest decision-making body of the Central Bank of Afghanistan.

INSKEEP: Americans will be familiar with the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States, which also has a board that governs it. It's the equivalent. That's what you were part of, is that governing board.

MEHRABI: Exactly. It would be correct to say that it was modeled after Federal Reserve Bank.

INSKEEP: Like the Fed, the Afghan central bank is supposed to hold down inflation. And Mehrabi took pride in that.

MEHRABI: It had performed very well. It - as a matter of fact, it had kept prices stable for years and much - a single digit⁸ in the past 15 years or so.

INSKEEP: Now he says that single-digit inflation has risen to more like 52%. Doing something about this is still Mehrabi's job. He is still a board member even though his government fell and he has not been back to Afghanistan since the collapse. He is living these days outside Washington, D.C.

MEHRABI: The Taliban has not really interfered⁹ whatsoever¹⁰ since August 15 of 2021.

INSKEEP: Do you mean to say you're still doing your job?

MEHRABI: I'm still - yes. I'm constantly in contact with the central bank.

INSKEEP: Are there still branches of the central bank functioning inside Afghanistan?

MEHRABI: Yes. Our audit¹¹ department travel periodically to all of these branches. And they've been able to do that. Actually, that audit department had a lot of security problems when - during the prior administration. And that security problem no longer exists. So it is easy for them to travel to different branches.

INSKEEP: I want to be explicit¹² about this because it seems to be true in all parts of Afghan life. Previously¹³, if your audit group was moving around, they had to be worried about being killed by the Taliban. Now the killers¹⁴ are in charge, so they're OK.

MEHRABI: I think your explanation with regard to security is accurate.

INSKEEP: Are there governing members of the Central Bank of Afghanistan who remain in Afghanistan?

MEHRABI: Yes. There are some who are there, then others who are outside Afghanistan.

INSKEEP: Does the bank have any money?

MEHRABI: The bank does have money, but not adequate to be able to perform the necessary function of the central bank. The loss of foreign exchange reserve has created a liquidity¹⁵ problem.

INSKEEP: U.S. officials say they want some assurance that the money would not be misspent if it's returned. In other words, they want to know the central bank is reasonably independent of the country's new rulers. Shah Mehrabi is less upset about this than you might think. He says the Biden administration has taken steps to get money flowing, especially for humanitarian¹⁶ aid. What he does not know yet is how the central bank would ever get back to normal.

MEHRABI: No increase in humanitarian aid can compensate¹⁷ for the macroeconomic harm of soaring prices for basic commodities. It could not fully¹⁸ compensate for the banking¹⁹ collapse or balance of payment crisis. Another consequence is that it could ripple²⁰ through the Afghan society and harm the most vulnerable people.

INSKEEP: During your time continuing the governance of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, to your knowledge, has there been an occasion when any Taliban official has placed a call or drop by and said, I want this or that?

MEHRABI: Not to me. I have not been contacted by them.

INSKEEP: Have you heard of any such thing?

MEHRABI: No. I'm not physically²¹ there. So you know, it is different to be physically present rather than being in outside. So I think I would not be able to comment on something that I have not seen or heard. But I can clearly say that there's been no intervention²² with regard to what I have done in the past year and what I have advocated.

INSKEEP: Can you envision a mechanism²³ by which the central bank would be seen as so independent that the United States and other nations could trust it to deal with it like a normal central bank and not fear that at some point, the money is siphoned off for extremist activity, for example?

MEHRABI: I think the important point is that there has to be a monitoring, constantly monitoring, and capacity building issues that will bring the trust of the United States into this particular central bank. Without that, it would be very difficult to have normal functioning of the central bank and acceptance of the central bank by the United States and other international partners. Their concerns are legitimate. And also, the brain drain issue needs to be addressed.

INSKEEP: Of course, a lot of employees at the central bank have left the country, fled the country. You've lost a lot of expertise²⁴. Are the Taliban allowing female employees of the central bank who remain to go to work?

MEHRABI: No, that is one area of contention²⁵. And the international community has brought this issue up with regard to allowing both male and female to perform their task for which they were trained. The United States invested a lot of money in terms of educating these people, as well as giving them practical experience. That vacuum that is created needs to be filled. And that isolation²⁶ from international financial system will have to be ceased in one way or another to address the issue of poverty and mass starvation that this country is experiencing and will continue to experience, especially in the winter, harsh months that lies ahead and in front of us.

INSKEEP: Shah Mehrabi, thank you very much.

MEHRABI: You're welcome. Good talking to you, Steve.

INSKEEP: He's a member of the Supreme Council of the Central Bank of Afghanistan.

(SOUNDBITE OF RICHARD SKELTON'S "LOWE")

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

8 digit   

n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾

参考例句：

• Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
• Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。

9 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

11 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

12 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

15 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

16 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

17 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

18 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

19 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

20 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

21 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

22 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

23 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

24 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

25 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

26 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。