Afghan central bank auctions $15m to stabilise local currency

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Since assuming power in August 2021, the Afghan caretaker government has taken a series of measures to maintain the stability of the Afghani against foreign currencies….reports Asian Lite News

Afghanistan’s central bank auctioned $15 million on Tuesday to maintain the stability of the national currency, the Afghani.

“The bidders, including moneychangers and private banks, should deposit the necessary money in cash in the form of Afghani in the central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank,” the central bank said in a statement posted on social media.

According to the statement, the bank was requesting all eligible banks, foreign currency exchangers and monetary service providers to participate in the auction, reports Xinhua news agency.

The bank also auctioned $15 million last week.

Since assuming power in August 2021, the Afghan caretaker government has taken a series of measures to maintain the stability of the Afghani against foreign currencies.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan exported commercial goods valued at 304 million U.S. dollars from March 20 to June 20, said the country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

“Afghanistan’s exports and imports during the first quarter of the Persian calendar year 1403 totalled approximately 2.577 billion U.S. dollars, with 304 million dollars in exports and 2.273 billion dollars in imports,” the ministry’s spokesperson Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad told local media outlet Ariana News on Saturday.

Afghanistan primarily exports goods to Pakistan, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, India, Austria, Uzbekistan, and Russia, according to Jawad, reports Xinhua news agency.

The main exports included fresh and dried fruits such as pistachios, pine nuts, figs, pomegranates, grapes, raisins, melons, and watermelons. Other significant exports were carpets, handicrafts, and medicinal herbs.

Recently, Afghan police seized 1,500 kg of illicit drugs, including opium and heroin, and arrested 120 alleged drug smugglers from Afghanistan’s Nimroz province over the past six months.

The dossiers of the suspects were referred to the judiciary for further investigation and possible legal process, Xinhua news agency reported.

Afghan authorities have intensified crackdown on illicit drugs and those involved in the business.

Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan had dropped by an estimated 95 per cent since the country’s caretaker government imposed a drug ban in April 2022, according to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime issued last November.

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