Since Wednesday evening, the value of a US dollar decreased by four afghani.
Afghanistan’s central bank has stated that through the implementation of rational monetary policies, it has been able to stabilize the afghani against the dollar.
Due to the recent increase in the dollar's value in the country’s markets, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a decree to prevent the smuggling of dollars out of the country.
Additionally, the central bank injected $90 million into the foreign exchange market in the past two weeks.
“As we promised our dear citizens, the central bank has sufficient resources, and we have been able to maintain the afghani’s value against the dollar by implementing rational monetary policies. We did not allow severe fluctuations to occur,” Haseebullah Noori, the spokesperson of Afghanistan's central bank, told TOLOnews.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has attributed the depreciation of the Afghani against the dollar to widespread negative propaganda and said efforts are ongoing to maintain the permanent stability of the afghani against foreign currencies, particularly the dollar.
“The national currency has depreciated against foreign currencies, especially the dollar, and the main reason is believed to be large-scale negative propaganda, which does not reflect the country’s actual positive economic situation,” stated Ahmad Wali Haqmal, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance.
At the same time, as the dollar's value increased, food prices also rose. Some Kabul residents say that despite a slight drop in the dollar’s value, no noticeable decrease in food prices has been observed.
“The dollar rate dropped, but food prices remained unchanged. We urge the Islamic Emirate to regulate prices, assign a committee, and inspect shops,” said Mohammad Zarif, a Kabul resident.
“If food prices decrease, a laborer earning 50 or 100 afghani a day will be able to buy a couple of kilos of flour or oil,” said another Kabul resident, Khadim Hussain.
However, the Kabul Municipality pledged that it is working to stabilize the prices of essential goods and will take legal action against hoarders.
“Imported goods are affected when the dollar rises, but we will not allow anyone to sell at fake or higher-than-market rates,” stated
Nematullah Barakzai, a representative of Kabul Municipality.
This comes as, in less than a week, the Afghani lost significant value against the dollar, with the exchange rate reaching as high as 81 afghani per dollar.
By Thursday evening, however, the exchange rate had dropped to 74 Afghanis per US dollar.
Citizens urge the Islamic Emirate to also focus on reducing food prices in the country.
Comment this post