The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) said that more than 8.2 million citizens have received Electronic Identity Cards (IDs).

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday to share details of the one-year activity of the NSIA, the head of the authority, Faqeer Mohammad Ziar, said that the process of printing electronic IDs have resumed inside the country.

“You know that the process of distributing and printing (electronic identity cards) has been slowed down recently because some of the equipment broke down and we faced a shortage of some materials for printing the electronic identity cards,” said Faqir Mohammad Ziar, head of the NSIA.

“2.17 million electronic identity cards have been distributed across the country,” said Mohammad Sabir Khan Stanikzai, deputy chief of the NSIA.

According to the head of the NSIA, 23 individuals have been dismissed on charges of corruption over the past 12 months. 

“23 people have been dismissed on charges of corruption. Two cases have been referred to the Attorney General's Office (AGO),” he said.

Meanwhile, Stanikzai said there has been a 7 percent increase in Afghanistan’s export abroad compared to the previous year. The imports have dropped by 22 percent compared to the previous year, he said.

Stanikzai said that 2 percent of the government employees have become jobless over the last year with women contributing 15 percent of this group.

“The number of civil service employees was 414,000 and this year, the number is 405,000. In general, there is a two percent reduction in the number of civil service employees,” said Esmatullah Hakimi, an official of the NSIA.

The NSIA has made 1.6 billion Afs over the past year for the government’s budget.