Many foreign governments and institutions say they cannot “engage more deeply without greater transparency”, but Taliban officials reject the idea that they must explain their finances to outsiders, the International Crisis Group said in a new report.
Taliban leaders admit to shortcomings in legal and regulatory frameworks, calling them barriers to economic recovery, the report titled “After the Aid Axe: Charting a Path to Self-reliance in Afghanistan” said. But they insist accountability is owed to Afghan citizens and businesses, not to foreign powers that fought the movement until 2021, cut aid and imposed sanctions.
The report says that unlike other secretive governments in Central and South Asia, which fund their own health and education services, the Taliban inherited a state dependent on external support.
According to the report, donors complain that the regime spends too little on social programs and too much on security — an estimated 50 percent of expenditures in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
The report says that analysts believe the share has since grown, with Taliban officials arguing that large forces are needed to maintain stability and counter Islamic State militants.
The Taliban reject portrayals of Afghanistan as on the brink of collapse, pointing instead to what they call the greatest level of peace and stability since the 1970s, the report says.
Some officials, the group reported, even considered expelling all foreign NGOs in late 2024, though the idea was dropped.
According to the report, the Taliban also question whether the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan still has a role, saying they want the country treated as a “normal” state rather than one requiring international oversight.
