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Kabul, Afghanistan Shukrullah brought four carpets for sale in the Chaman-e Hozori community in Kabul. The area is full of refrigerators, cushions, fans, pillows, blankets, silverware, curtains, beds, mattresses, cooking utensils and shelves, which are carried and sold by hundreds of people.
Decades of negligence and drought caused the former grassland to become mud and dust, and goods lined up around the block. Each item is equivalent to a part of family life established in the capital of Afghanistan over the past 20 years. Now they are all sold at a meager price to feed those families.
“We spent 48,000 Afghans on these carpets [$556], But now I can’t get more than 5,000 afghanis [$58] For everyone,” Shukulula said, people rummaged through the merchandise on display.
Since the Taliban took control of the capital on August 15, Afghans have been facing a cash crisis. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Central Bank have cut off Afghanistan’s access to international funds in recent weeks. Banks across Afghanistan are closed, and many ATMs are unable to withdraw cash.
Although many banks have reopened since then, the weekly withdrawal limit is 20,000 Afghanis (US$232). Hundreds of men and women lined up outside the National Bank all day, waiting for the opportunity to withdraw funds.
However, for families like Shukrula, waiting outside a crowded financial institution is not an option.
“I need to make enough money to buy at least some flour, rice and oil,” he said of his 33 people, who all moved into a house last year.
The United Nations warns that the poverty rate in Afghanistan may increase by 25%, and many residents are eager to sell properties far below value [Ali M Latifi/Al Jazeera]Even before former President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and the control of the Taliban, Afghanistan was already Facing the economic slowdown The global COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing drought have further damaged the economy that is highly dependent on agriculture, which has exacerbated the situation.
In a report released last week, the United Nations warned that by mid-2022, more than 97% of the population may fall below the poverty line.
On Monday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres convened a high-level humanitarian assistance conference on Afghanistan in Geneva to raise $600 million, of which about one-third will be used for food aid.
The global agency had previously dealt with the economic crisis and “Completely collapsed“In Afghanistan.
According to the World Bank, when at least 10% of a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) comes from foreign aid, it is considered to be aid dependent. In the past 20 years, 40% of Afghanistan’s GDP came from international aid. Now, as many countries refuse to recognize the Taliban government, experts warn that the country is heading for economic disaster.
‘I serve my country’
Earlier this week, the former governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, Ajmal Ahmady, stated in a speech at the Atlantic Council that if global sanctions are not lifted, the country’s GDP may shrink by 10-20%.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that the Taliban government hopes that China and Russia can make up for the lack of Western economic aid. But so far, neither Beijing nor Moscow have been able to fill this gap.
this Imminent crisis The current liquidity crunch has been evident in several neighborhoods across the city, and people are selling everything that can buy food and other basic staples.
Abdullah, a former soldier in his 40s, is another example of the country’s imminent economic disaster. As a service worker, he used to make about $200 a month. Although the Taliban have asked the national security forces to resume work, Abdullah still did not receive a call.
He found a job as a worker, transporting goods bought and sold by people, earning hundreds of Afghans every day, hoping to pay a monthly rent of 3,000 Afghanis (US$35) and provide food for his family.
“I did what I was supposed to do. I served my country, but now I am still relegated to suck in dust and dust to feed my eight children.”
In the context of economic austerity, people sell their goods in the Chaman-e Hozori community in Kabul [Ali M Latifi/Al Jazeera]‘brutal reality’
Even with the influx of goods, temporary shopkeepers operating on the sidewalk said that they were not profitable.
One of the shopkeepers, Zalmay, is checking the inventory of new carpets and cushions that have just arrived on the roof of the taxi, but he said that, like all the other things he sold last month, the quantity is small.
“Ministries and offices are closed, unemployment rates are soaring, and prices are rising. People sell their goods at huge losses, and buyers hardly need to pay for them when they buy,” he said, and a customer asked him Sony Whether the Bravia TV can be used normally.
He said that the TV used to sell for a few hundred dollars, but if the customer paid on the spot, he was willing to sell it for 11,000 afghanis ($127).
“This is the painful reality we find ourselves in,” he said once the customer walked away.
Another shopkeeper, Abdul Qadi, who sells shelves and bed frames across the street, said his business is also struggling.
“Who can think of profit when you have to put food on the table every day?”
For many people in the vicinity of Chaman-e Hozori, the responsibility for the current situation in Afghanistan does not lie with the Taliban.
A driver delivering household items turned to a nearby shopkeeper and said, “Someone took a photo and sent it to Ashraf Ghani“This is the former president who fled to the United Arab Emirates on August 15.
“Send it to him and say,’I hope you have a good life. Now look at the mess you have left for the country.'”
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