The aim was to set their day-to-day experiences as the context for scrutinising the World Bank’s analysis and the Emirate’s more positive take on the current state of the Afghan economy. [...] Poverty levels have fallen back, but remain high: according to the World Bank, in October-December 2021, 70 per 5 The World Bank report speaks about the contraction of the economy over the “last two years,” ie March 2022 to March 2024, the first two full Afghan fiscal years since the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate. [...] The loss to the treasury was immense: one 2021 study followed the three-way split of money paid out to officials, insurgents and the treasury from potential customs in Nimruz and concluded that only a quarter of what should have been paid in customs duties was reaching the treasury.11 Some of the upset with customs may be due to having to pay the duties in full now, although at least for our inter. [...] The amount of civilian aid in 2022 was roughly the same as during the last years of the Republic, but without foreign military spending and support to the Afghan security forces, the total amount of unearned income coming into Afghanistan was considerably lower. [...] The danger is that “economic growth languishes, impeding sustainable poverty alleviation and job creation.” The strong currency Another of the “major [positive] economic indicators” enabled by the Emirate, according to Ministry of Economy spokesperson Abdul Rahman Habib, speaking to Salam Watandar, was “the stability of the value of the Afghani currency.” The Bank, on the other hand, considers the.
- Pages
- 43
- Published in
- Afghanistan
Table of Contents
- Introduction 4
- Why focus on the private sector? 6
- What businesspeople say about the economy 9
- Weak or collapsed customer demand 10
- Deflation 12
- Cheap imports 12
- Other undercutting 13
- Taxes 13
- Customs 15
- Restrictions 17
- Closed borders 18
- Banking and investment 18
- Less support than in the past 19
- Problematic state services and infrastructure 19
- World Bank reporting on the economy and the Islamic Emirate’s response 22
- A smaller economy, shrunken demand 23
- Falling prices 24
- The strong currency 25
- Other measures of success cited by the Emirate 25
- Imports, exports, the trade deficit and a transit trade scam 27
- The strong afghani and shrunken money supply 30
- The weakness of the banking sector 30
- External pressures 32
- Public finances: taxation 32
- Public finances: spending 33
- The opium ban 38
- Looking ahead 40
