Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance announced on Saturday that the World Bank will proceed with payments for projects and contracted companies whose documentation was fully completed and processed prior to the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
kabul 24: In a statement, the ministry revealed that the World Bank currently owes approximately $45 million to relevant contracting firms.
These funds will be disbursed in four coordinated stages with the Ministry of Finance.The first phase involves a direct payment of $9.3 million from the World Bank to foreign contracting companies.
The second phase, which has already commenced, entails the transfer of $16.8 million to the companies via the Ministry of Finance.
Subsequent payments in the third and fourth phases will follow in due course.
The ministry further confirmed that the World Bank’s office in Afghanistan has been reopened, marking the resumption of its full operations in the country.
This development is seen as a positive step toward settling longstanding financial obligations and potentially paving the way for future collaborations on development initiatives.
The repayments stem from assessments of pre-2021 contracts reviewed by the Bank’s third-party monitoring agency and Afghan authorities.
