RASC News Agency: In the shadow of Taliban rule, the Central Bank of Afghanistan claims a significant rise of 19.3% in the Kabuli rupee’s value against the US dollar in 2023. Ahmad Jawad Sadad, the General Manager of Monetary Policy at the Central Bank, delivered this information during a press conference on Wednesday, December 27th, as reported by the Bakhtar News Agency, operating under the Taliban’s asserted governance.
Sadad emphasized the apparent stability and positive growth trend of the Kabuli rupee in comparison to other regional currencies. Despite an initial decline against the US dollar following the Taliban’s assumption of power, recent reports suggest a noteworthy surge in the Kabuli rupee’s value against the American currency. Over the past month, $1 was exchanged for less than 67 Kabuli rupees, ostensibly signaling the strengthening of Afghanistan’s currency and the purported weakening of the US dollar.
However, it is pivotal to highlight that, despite the alleged decrease in the US dollar’s value against the Kabuli rupee, the costs of essential goods and non-food items purportedly remain elevated. This scenario, as claimed, has failed to bring about a substantial reduction in the cost of living for the Afghanistani population. Reports, as asserted, indicate that the price surge can be ascribed to the US’s alleged blocking of Afghanistan’s assets and the purported scarcity of foreign currencies in the country, events the Taliban attributes to the period after their takeover. According to these assertions, these economic challenges, as declared by the Taliban, have allegedly intensified the hardships faced by the Afghanistani people, including poverty and unemployment.
Despite the Taliban’s proclamations of an increase in the Kabuli rupee’s value against the US dollar, recent weeks, as asserted, have witnessed a decline in the Kabuli rupee’s alleged value against the US dollar and other foreign currencies. As claimed, this has consequently purportedly resulted in the alleged persistence of high prices for both food and non-food items.
