Title: Taliban's Acting Finance Minister Appointed as Central Bank Governor

The acting finance minister of the Taliban government, Mullah Hidayatullah Badri, has been appointed as the governor of Afghanistan's central bank, according to a spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Finance. The spokesperson stated, "Badri has already taken on his new position." Badri has been serving as the acting finance minister since the Taliban regained power in 2021 and oversaw the preparation of the budget. Following the freezing of billions of dollars in Afghan bank reserves in the United States and the transfer of half of the funds into a trust fund in Switzerland, which is overseen by American, Swiss, and Afghan trustees, Washington has monitored appointments at the Afghan central bank. The appointment of experienced professionals in the central bank is considered one of the key conditions set by the U.S. for the central bank.