Governor of the Taliban’s Central Bank Meets Chinese Envoy to Discuss Banking Relations

According to a Reuters report on Friday, the acting head of the Afghan central bank for the Taliban met with China’s envoy this week to talk banking and commerce.

Sanctions, a reduction in development funding, a decline in liquidity from frozen central bank assets, and sanctions have all significantly impacted Afghanistan’s financial sector. The nation’s official banking industry has also been largely shut off from the global financial system due to regulatory risk concerns of foreign institutions.

Despite not having any official diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, China has kept an embassy open there ever since the Taliban seized power there in 2021. Although some Chinese business leaders have voiced security worries, Beijing has lately shown economic interest in its neighbor. These executives have said that they are looking into investment prospects, particularly in the mining industry.

According to the bank’s spokeswoman, Hassibullah Noori, “in this meeting, economy, banking relations, business, and some related topics were discussed,” adding that the meeting took place on Thursday in Kabul between Ambassador Wang Yu and acting governor Mullah Hidayatullah Badri.

Requests for response from the Chinese foreign ministry were not promptly fulfilled.

Senior Taliban official Badri resigned as acting finance minister in March to take over as acting head of the national bank. According to Taliban officials, during the Taliban’s 20-year insurgency against the former Western-backed government of Afghanistan, he oversaw the majority of the organization’s fundraising efforts as the head of the Islamic Emirate’s economic commission.