Documents provided by a government source to TOLOnews reveal that government revenues from custom houses and other revenue-generating departments of the Ministry of Finance in the first six months of 1399 (March 2020 to Sept. 2020) were 50% below the target numbers set for the year.
Based on the documents, revenues from Aqina Port, Andkhoi Port and customs from Herat, Nangarhar, Kandahar and Kabul were below 50 to 60 percent compared to the targets set by the Afghan government.
The documents also state that Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, the acting Minister of Finance, has been inappropriately guided by members of the parliament in making new appointments at customs.
The document shows that the Ministry of Finance had set $1.7 billion as the target this year for revenue.
According to the document, the government aimed to collect $887 million from revenue in the first six months of 1399. But it has collected only $445 million during this period.
“Corruption is a factor. Almost 80 percent of products pass through the customs in our western and southern ports without proper customs processes,” said Khan Jan Alokozai, the deputy head of the Afghanistan Chambers Federation. (chamber of commerce? )
The status of revenue collection in some provinces and ports are as follows:
Kunar
Target for 1399 ---$194,538
Target for first six months of 1399---$98,566
Money collected in first six months of 1399---$1,296
Deficit---$99.3
Takhar
Target for 1399---$440,954
Target for first six months of 1399---$223,071
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$18,156
Deficit: $91.7
Paktika
Target for 1399---$22,060,711
Target for first six months of 1399---$11,173,017
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$1,015,493
Deficit: 90.7
Badakhshan
Target for 1399---$259,385
Target for first six months of 1399---$259,385
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$11,672
Deficit: 90.7
Paktia
Target for 1399---$20,893,478
Target for first six months of 1399---$10,581,619
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$3,019,243
Deficit: 71.5
Khost
Target for 1399---$23,305,760
Target for first six months of 1399---$11,803,323
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$3,953,030
Deficit: 66.5
Kabul
Target for 1399---$19,453,890
Target for first six months of 1399---$9,852,747
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$3,569,140
Deficit: 63.8
Nangarhar
Target for 1399---$386,652,556
Target for first six months of 1399---$195,822,860
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$79,553,442
Deficit: 59.4
Aqina Port:
Target for 1399---$45,586,949
Target for first six months of 1399---$23,085,283
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$9,986,330
Deficit: 56.7
Kandahar
Target for 1399---$226,858,300
Target for first six months of 1399---$11,4894,676
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$50,541,207
Deficit: 56
Herat
Target for 1399---$40,8531,698
Target for first six months of 1399---$206,898,608
Money collected in the first six months of 1399---$94,831,231
Deficit: 54.2
“Trade halted after the spread of coronavirus in the country---the borders were closed, imports and exports were reduced, therefore, some of our provinces couldn’t manage to achieve their targets,” said Shamroz Khan Masjidi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance.
The documents also show that the former director of Mobile Care of Kabul customs was reshuffled to Balkh after he tried to prevent embezzlement at the Kabul customs.
The document shows that he was replaced by a man who was suggested by a member of parliament to the acting Minister of Finance.
But the Ministry of Finance has not commented on this.
Meanwhile, corruption-monitoring organizations have said that the government itself has been the main hurdle in the way of bringing reform to the Finance Ministry.
“Using leverage by parliament is illegal,” said Rohullah Sakhizad, a legal expert.
“Unfortunately, just like in the past, the appointments to the Ministry of Finance have been conducted in line with the direction from the president,” said Farid Ahmad, a spokesman for the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service.
“People are being appointed under different pretexts, and by nepotism,” said Mohammad Asim, the former governor of Parwan.
Despite the Afghan government’s persistent pledges to increase domestic revenues, 51 percent of Afghanistan’s national budget is provided by foreign donors.
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