EXCLUSIVE Afghan central bank drained dollar stockpile before Kabul fell - document

The Afghan central bank ran down most of its U.S. dollar cash reserves in the weeks before the Taliban took control of the country, according to an assessment prepared for Afghanistan's international donors, exacerbating the current economic crisis.

The confidential, two-page brief, written early this month by senior international economic officials for institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, said the country's severe cash shortage began before the Taliban took control of Kabul.

It criticised how the central bank's former leadership handled the crisis in the months before the Taliban's conquest, including decisions to auction unusually large amounts of U.S. dollars and move money from Kabul to provincial branches.

"FX (foreign exchange) reserves in CB's (central bank) vaults in Kabul have depleted, the CB cannot meet ... cash requests," the report, seen by Reuters, said

"The biggest source of the problem is the mismanagement at the central bank prior to the Taliban takeover," it added.

Shah Mehrabi, chairman of the central bank's audit committee who helped oversee the bank before the Taliban took over and is still in his post, defended the central bank's actions, saying it was trying to prevent a run on the local Afghani currency.

The extent of the cash shortage can be seen on the streets of Afghan cities, where people have been queuing for hours to withdraw dollar savings amid strict limits on how much they can take out.

Even before the shock of the Western-backed government's collapse, the economy was struggling, but the return of the Taliban and abrupt end of billions of dollars in foreign aid has left it in deep crisis.