WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday the United States would return about $100 million (£80.21 million) to the treasury for an energy infrastructure project in Afghanistan and would withhold a further $60 million in planned assistance to the country due to a lack of transparency.
Pompeo said in a statement the United States would complete the infrastructure project, but would do so using an "'off-budget' mechanism," faulting Afghanistan for an "inability to transparently manage U.S. Government resources."
"Due to identified Afghan Government corruption and financial mismanagement, the U.S. Government is returning approximately $100 million to the U.S. Treasury that was intended for a large energy infrastructure project," he added.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Andrew Heavens)