WASHINGTON, November 24, 2025 - Significant progress has been made in addressing outstanding liabilities owed by the former government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to contractors that worked on World Bank-financed projects before August 2021.
While these vendors were contracted by the Republic government and the World Bank was not a party to the original contracts, the Bank is facilitating the settlement of eligible, verified arrears to help businesses during a challenging economic period. Payments are being advanced through a robust, multi-layered process of documentation review and independent third-party verification, underscoring the institution's commitment to supporting Afghanistan's private sector and consistent with the principles outlined in the Bank's May 2025 statement.
The World Bank looks forward to completing this multi-phased process and ensuring that contractors are properly compensated for goods supplied and services rendered.
The progress made in this process is an important achievement. Discussions to date revolve around this issue only and the World Bank Group remains focused on working with the international community on ensuring the wellbeing of the Afghan people through access to basic human needs and private sector led jobs.
