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Central bank governor says international reserves have not been compromised

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(Last Updated On: August 18, 2021)

Ajmal Ahmady, Afghanistan’s central bank governor and former minister of industry and commerce, posted a series of tweets on Wednesday stating he wanted to “clarify the location of DAB (Central Bank of Afghanistan) international reserves.” 

He said that DAB reserves were approximately $9.0 billion as of last week but that “this does not mean that DAB held $9.0 billion physically in our vault.”

He said as per international standards, most assets are held in safe, liquid assets such as Treasuries and gold.

He said that DAB was set to receive approximately $340 million on August 23rd from the International Monetary Fund.

“Not sure if that allocation will now proceed with respect to Afghanistan,” he said. 

Given Afghanistan’s large current account deficit, DAB was reliant on obtaining physical shipments of cash every few weeks, he said.

“The amount of such cash remaining is close to zero due to a stoppage of shipments as the security situation deteriorated, especially during the last few days,” he said. 

“On Friday morning, I received a call notifying me that there would be no further USD (US Dollar) shipments,” Ahmady said, adding they were expecting one on Sunday, the day the Taliban took control of Kabul, but that this shipment did not arrive. 

Ahmady said that on Saturday, banks placed very large USD bids as customer withdrawals accelerated.

“For the first time, I therefore had to limit USD access to both banks and dollar auctions to conserve remaining DAB dollars.

“We also put out a circular placing maximum withdrawal limits per customer,” he said. 

He assured Afghans that in no way were Afghanistan’s international reserves ever compromised.

“We had a program with both the IMF and Treasury that monitored assets. No money was stolen from any reserve account,” he said.

However, he stated that given that the Taliban are still on international sanction lists, it is expected that such assets will be frozen and not accessible to Taliban.

“I believe local banks have told customers that they cannot return their dollars – because DAB has not supplied banks with dollars.

“This is true. Not because funds have been stolen or being held in a vault, but because all dollars are in international accounts that have been frozen,” he said. 

“Taliban should note this was in no way the decision of DAB or its professional staff. It is a direct result of the US sanctions policy implemented by OFAC (the American Office of Foreign Assets Control),” he said. 

In conclusion, Ahmady suggested the Taliban implement capital controls and limit dollar access.

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Pakistan’s commerce delegation wraps up ‘successful’ trip to Kabul

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires for Afghanistan, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani said in a video message on Wednesday that the recent talks between Islamabad’s commerce delegation and Afghan officials had been “successful” and that he hoped this would give fresh impetus to bilateral trade between the two countries.

“I’m happy to report that this was a successful visit and both sides have agreed to work together for mutual benefit on a number of areas.

“They will facilitate transit, they will facilitate bilateral trade and they will take all possible measures that create an environment for continuous and productive trade and economic relations between the two countries,” he said.

The delegation, led by Commerce Ministry Secretary Khurram Agha, arrived in Kabul on Monday and had numerous talks on various issues with Islamic Emirate officials.

The visit came amid deteriorating bilateral relations following several suicide attacks in Pakistan in the last couple of months that Islamabad attributes to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, a group they claim is based in Afghanistan.

Diplomatic tensions between the two countries over the last few months have led to economic losses, as key border crossings for trade and travel have closed intermittently, resulting in goods trucks being held up at border posts.

Afghanistan’s Minister for Industry and Commerce Nurudin Azizi meanwhile said the IEA had held fruitful negotiations in a cordial environment with the visiting delegation.

“We discussed in detail with the Pakistani side specific issues related to heavy transport vehicles that will be resolved,” he said.

“We will achieve positive results as our discussions remained productive.”

Azizi said Afghanistan expected to sign a formal agreement with Pakistan within six months, allowing Pakistani trucks to enter Afghanistan and travel to the Central Asian states and Afghan trucks to go all the way to the Pakistani port cities of Karachi and Gwadar.

Apart from discussing trade-related issues, the two sides also focused on movement of passengers, patients and businesspeople across their common border during these talks.

Azizi noted uninterrupted trade and business between Kabul and Islamabad would play a significant role in creating a peaceful environment between the two countries and facilitate their economic development.

He said the two sides also pledged to enhance their existing trade volume, adding that both countries could become ideal markets for each other if they did not allow business to be affected by any geopolitical tensions.

Azizi also said Afghanistan could export agricultural products to China and other countries via Pakistan’s ports and cities.

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Turkey’s 77 keen to start up cement plant in Jawzjan

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(Last Updated On: March 27, 2024)

Turkish construction company 77 officials have met with the acting minister of mines and petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar, about investing in a cement factory in Yatim Taq area of Jawzjan province.

The minister, Shahabuddin Dalawar, has said the ministry will cooperate with the company but first needs a proposal, including details around how they plan to implement the project as well as social development plans.

Turkey’s 77 company has been working on electricity generation projects in Afghanistan for several years.

A number of industrialists say that if more investment is made in the cement production sector, not only will domestic demand be met, but the country’s cement will also be exported.

At the moment, cement is being produced by private companies in the provinces of Kandahar, Parwan and Herat.

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Pakistan delegation discusses solutions with Azizi to resolve trade issues

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(Last Updated On: March 26, 2024)

Officials of the Afghan Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday held a meeting with the visiting delegation of Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce where they discussed challenges around trade relations between the two countries.

The Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry Nooruddin Azizi said due to recent political tensions, trade and transit relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have faced problems. He said efforts are being made to find solutions to the existing problems and to distance political issues from trade issues.

The visiting delegation is in Kabul at the invitation of the ministry of commerce and industry.

Azizi said the Pakistani delegation said at the meeting that all commercial, transit and economic issues between the two countries will be discussed and efforts will be made to keep trade issues separate from political issues.

“We want to talk about issues that are especially in the field of trade and transit, and we want to prioritize all issues related to trade, we are trying to separate trade and transit from political issues,” said Azizi.

He also expressed hope that his meeting with the Pakistani delegation will help solve the existing challenges and improve and expand trade and transit relations between the two countries.

According to economic experts, since Afghanistan is a transit route between Central Asia and South Asia, the Islamic Emirate can use it to pressurize Pakistan so as not to create trade problems.

“Pressure should be put on Pakistan with the same means we have so that the agreement signed between us and Pakistan and they are forced to comply. We must use this agreement and use it correctly and we should be emotional and not say hostile words, but we want our right,” said Seyed Masoud, an economic expert.

Officials from the ministry also said that talks were held on other issues, including implementing the PTA preferential trade agreement or TAD, finalizing negotiations about APPTA, determining the date of air transit, 24-hour operations in the ports of Torkham, Chaman, and Spin Boldak.

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