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Afghan currency hits new low against the US dollar

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Afghanistan's national currency, the Afghani, lost significant value against the US dollar on Tuesday trading at a dismal 100 AFN to the dollar.

This was against Monday’s rate of 96.9 AFN to the dollar.

Da Afghanistan Bank, Afghanistan’s Central Bank, said in a statement that the stronger US dollar, as well as the high demand for dollars in Afghanistan, has caused the sharp drop in the value of the AFN.

The Bank in turn called on the public to only use Afghani’s in daily trade transactions in order to help stabilize the national currency.

Economists have said the drop in value of the AFN will directly impact the lives of Afghans, who are already struggling under a collapsing economy.

They said the weak Afghani will lead to an increase in the price of raw materials, fuel, and food supplies as most of these products are imported and paid for in US dollars.

Members of the public have meanwhile also raised concerns about the banking services in the country which have still not returned to normal following the collapse of the previous government.

Banking clients have for months been forced to queue for hours to draw money from banks - which sometimes run out of cash.

“It is too crowded; we came at 3am and already there were 200 people [waiting in line]… after three or four days of waiting you manage to withdraw money,” said Mawlana, a resident of Kabul.

Last month, the Central Bank eased restrictions on withdrawals, allowing people to withdraw up to $400 or 30,000 Afghanis a week and up to $1,200 or 100,000 Afghani per month.

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Private sectors of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan sign contracts worth $100 million

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Private sectors of Afghanistan and Kazakhstan have signed contracts worth $100 million during the visit of an Afghan delegation to Almaty recently, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) announced on Thursday.

The agreements include the export of more than 2,000 tons of dried fruit, the export of fresh fruit, including pomegranates, and the export of cotton, Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, said on X.

Mujahid said that the Islamic Emirate delegation during its recent visit to Kazakhstan signed a "road map of cooperation between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan in the fields of trade, industry, mining, energy, logistics, agriculture, telecommunications, health, higher education and humanitarian aid.”

He said Kazakhstan also assured that it would provide more facilities for the transit of Afghan goods to China and other countries through Kazakhstan.

The allocation of an area "as a logistics center for Afghan goods" in the port of Khargos was also part of the agreement between the two sides to facilitate the unloading and loading of Afghan traders' goods.

The spokesman of the Islamic Emirate also said that Kazakhstan will participate in the construction of the Torghundi-Herat, Kandahar-Spin Boldak and Mazar-e-Sharif-Kharlachi railway projects.

Mujahid added that Kazakhstan will also participate in the establishment of a trade and transit center in Herat province, which will be used to store and finance trade and transit goods. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has agreed to establish permanent expo centers for the sale of Afghan goods in various cities of Kazakhstan.

It is worth mentioning that the delegation of the Islamic Emirate led by Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, participated in the three-day exhibition of Afghanistan's domestic products, which was launched on October 21 in Almaty.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce recently announced that 23 tons of pomegranates from Kandahar province were exported to Almaty through the port of Torghundi.

 

 

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China resumes direct rail trade with Afghanistan

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China resumed its direct freight rail services to Afghanistan on Thursday when a train loaded with goods left Nantong city in Jiangsu province.

The train, carrying commercial goods in 55 wagons, is heading for the northern Hairatan border in Balkh province, Yue Xiaoyong, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Special Representative for Afghanistan, said in a post on X.

Nantong is a central hub of the Belt and Road Initiative and is located north of Shanghai.

The resumption of the rail line was marked at a formal ceremony on Thursday with Yue and Bilal Karimi, the Afghan Ambassador to China, in attendance.

This comes after China recently announced plans to lift customs tariffs on Afghan exports to China by the end of this year, further strengthening trade ties between the two nations.

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IEA signs contract for construction of cement factory in Jawzjan Province

Turkish 77 Company will invest $163 million in the factory, which will have a daily output of 3,000 tons of cement once completed

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The Islamic Emirate on Tuesday signed a multi-million dollar contract with Turkish 77 Company for a new cement factory in the Yatim Taq area of Jawzjan Province in northern Afghanistan.

The contract was signed in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund.

Turkish 77 Company will invest $163 million in the factory, which will have a daily output of 3,000 tons of cement once completed.

Also in attendance on Tuesday were officials from the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum who stated that the contract, which allows the Turkish company to explore, extract, produce cement, and deliver social services, is valid for 30 years.

The establishment of this cement production plant will directly create around 1,200 jobs for local citizens.

In addition to the signing of this contract, the ministry also inked contracts worth $476 million with several domestic and foreign companies for cement projects in Jabal al-Saraj, Kandahar, and Herat.

The IEA has said this is in line with their aim of propelling the country towards self-sufficiency in the cement sector.

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