The Taliban's hopes of getting a hold of the funds have been dashed.
According to the WSJ, the Biden administration will not release any of the frozen assets.
After the head of al Qaeda was found in Afghanistan, the administration stopped talking to the Taliban.
According to a new report, the Taliban's hopes of getting $7 billion in reserves in Afghanistan's central bank have been dashed because the US won't release frozen assets.
The US suspended talks with the Taliban after finding and killing Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan, The Wall Street reported.
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West told the Journal that recapitalization of the Afghan central bank is not a near-term option.
"We don't have confidence in the institution's ability to manage assets in a responsible way," West said.
The US was concerned about releasing the funds because the Taliban had harbored al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda since Osama bin Laden's death.
The Taliban's shelter of al Qa'ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri reinforces our concerns about diversion of funds to terrorist groups.
The US and its international partners froze most of the country's central bank's assets shortly after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
Some $2 billion in frozen funds are being held by other countries while the US holds $7 billion.
It was previously reported that the US and the Taliban had been negotiating the release of billions of dollars in Afghanistan's reserves.
More than 70 economists and experts wrote a letter to the president and treasury secretary last week urging them to release $7 billion in frozen reserve funds.
According to the economists, Afghanistan's central bank needs the funds to help it fight severe economic and humanitarian problems, such as high inflation and a populace on the verge of starvation.
The Taliban government has done horrible things, including the treatment of women and girls. Collective punishment for the actions of a government is morally condemnable and politically and economically reckless.
Business Insider has an article on it.
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