Business

Pay cuts for Ghani and ministers, but pay rises for govt workers

Published

3 years ago

February 15, 2021

(Last Updated On: February 15, 2021)

The Ministry of Finance has finally agreed to increase the salaries of government employees, while the president and ministers will all take a pay cut.

The increased budget spends for government employees has been requested repeatedly by the Wolesi Jirga’s Finance and Budget Commission, which has twice rejected the draft budget on the grounds of salaries and the allocation of emergency funding.

The finance ministry announced on Monday it has allocated an additional 12 billion Afghanis (AFN) to salaries, of which half will be added to the salary fund at the start of the fiscal year (in April) and the balance will be added to the mid-year budget cycle.

Khalid Painda, the acting finance minister, also said the president and ministers will take pay cuts.

Members of the Wolesi Jirga commission felt however that the full amount should be rolled out immediately but the finance ministry said this was not possible.

“The salary increase must be accepted as 12 billion Afghanis, and this money for salaries must be paid at the beginning of the fiscal year; in most of the codes (funds) there is extra money, which needs to be reduced and the salaries increased,” said the committee chair Mir Afghan Safi.

The decision to increase the amount allocated to salaries comes after negotiations between the finance and budget committee of parliament and the finance ministry.

“On the issue of salaries, I promise to get six billion to finance the salaries, and we will implement it in the middle of the year and allocate twelve billion for next year,” said Painda.

In addition to this, members of the commission stated that government must respect the legislative authorities of the House.

“All those institutions that have not gotten a vote of confidence from the parliament are not authorized to sign financial letters, and if they do, they are accountable to the law in financial documents,” said Mohammad Azim Mohssini, a member of the Finance and Budget Commission.

However, Wolesi Jirga members who attended the commission’s meeting said part of the dispute over the draft budget has been resolved but that government needs to agree to other recommendations so that the budget can be tabled in parliament for approval.

Up Next

Saffron harvest yields impressive 21 tons this year

Don't Miss

Taliban kidnap 11 from Pashdan Dam project in Herat

Business

Export volume totals over $140 million in last month of 1402

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: April 17, 2024)

The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) confirmed Tuesday that in the last month of solar year 1402, (March 2024) Afghanistan’s exports totaled $141.1 million and imports totaled $789.6 million.

This was down from $174 million for exports in the same period in 1401. However, imports increased by $99.2 million in 1402, up from $690.4 million.

Most exports in the last month of 1402 went to Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates, while in the last month of 1401 exports went to Pakistan, India and China.

Business

Afghanistan-Kazakhstan chamber of commerce opens in Herat

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: April 15, 2024)

The Ministry of Interior said the governor of Herat province Islam Jar met with Alim Khan Yasin Gildaye, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Afghanistan, to discuss various issues around trade.

According to the ministry, the two sides discussed the expansion of trade facilities, increasing the volume of trade exchanges between traders of the two countries, reducing customs tariffs, solving the challenges of traders and issuing visas to them.

The Afghanistan-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce has been opened in Herat in order to facilitate and increase trade between the two countries.

Business

Afghanistan reaches self-sufficiency in production of 133 items: MoIC

Published

6 days ago

April 13, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: April 13, 2024)

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) says Afghanistan has reached self-sufficiency in 45 sectors and the production of 133 items, and that the ministry is striving to change Afghanistan from an importing country to an exporting one.

The ministry officials said that for this purpose, supporting domestic products and attracting investment is essential.

The ministry’s spokesman Abdul Salam Jawad Akhundzada emphasized increasing the use of domestic goods and products in government and national projects and added that efforts have also begun to find a market for domestic products inside and outside the country.

“We have reached self-sufficiency in 133 items of production, which is 45 sectors, and also we reached the capacity of semi-self-sufficiency in 95 items of production, which is 27 sectors,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Industries and Mines (ACIM) says over the past two and a half years, more attention has been paid to the development of domestic production and it is also expanding.

The chamber officials stressed expanding the culture of using domestic products in government projects.

“I think that the government is one of the biggest consumers in the market if it uses domestic products in all its development projects,” said Abdul Nasir Rashtia, a member of ACIM.

Economic experts also said that if the use of domestic products in government projects increases, Afghanistan will quickly move towards economic independence.