Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB, Pashto: د افغانستان بانک; Dari: بانک مرکزی افغانستان) is the central bank of Afghanistan. It regulates all banking and monetary transactions in Afghanistan.[6] Established in 1939, the bank is wholly government-owned. It is active in developing policies to promote financial inclusion and a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion.[7]
Headquarters | Kabul, Afghanistan |
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Established | 17 November 1939 |
Ownership | 100% state ownership[1] |
Governor | Hidayatullah Badri (acting)[2] |
Central bank of | Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan |
Currency | Afghani AFN (ISO 4217) |
Reserves | $9.5 billion[3][4][5] |
Website | www |
Da Afghanistan Bank currently has around 52 branches throughout the country, with seven of these in Kabul, where its headquarters is also based.[8] As of December 2023, individual bank customers cannot withdraw more than 70,000 afghanis ($1,000) a week.[9][10][11]
The seal of Da Afghanistan Bank has the name of the bank in Pashto at the top and Latin script at the bottom, the year 1939 in which it was established, and a depiction of a Eucratides I-era coin with the Greek text, "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ" which means "Of the great king Eucratides".
Basic tasks of DAB are:
In July 2021, the Supreme Council at DAB consisted of:[30][31]
The Supreme Council is currently unknown due to the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in August 2021.
DAB owned about US$7 billion in assets held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.[33] After the 2021 Taliban seizure of power, a group of about 150 relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks attempted to use a judgement from the SDNY case Havlish v. Bin Laden to gain control of these assets, asserting that they were now legally the Taliban's and thus could be used to pay damages to 9/11 victims' families.[34] After a period of deliberation, the Biden administration went along with the request, dividing the assets into two halves, one of which would be allocated to the plaintiffs as potential damages, and the other which would be used to set up a trust fund to "support the needs of the Afghan people" but which the Taliban government would remain barred from accessing.[35][36] On 26 August 2022, a judge recommended to not award damages as the bank is "immune from jurisdiction" and that it would "acknowledge" the Taliban as the legitimate Afghan government.[36]