Half of all Afghans are living in poverty, says World Bank

Kabul, Afghanistan, October 10, 2021, Refugees living in a camp outside Kabul under the Taliban rule

KABUL (Agencies): Poverty affects one in every two Afghans, while about 15 million people are food insecure, the World Bank said in its latest report on Afghanistan published.

The report said that consumer prices continue to decrease because of persistent economic weakness and reduced demand, prolonging the deflationary trend that began in April 2023. Deflation dynamics reflect the impact of depleted household savings, reduced public spending, and shocks to farmer income from poppy cultivation bans, the report said.

On trade, the report said that exports amounted to US$1.3 billion between January to September, representing a slight decrease of 0.5 percent compared to the same period in 2022. Imports reached US$ 5.7 billion, showing a 27 percent growth compared to the same period in 2022. On the value of Afghan currency, the report said that it appreciated by 20.2 percent against the US dollar between January 1 and October 23.

The report also said that revenue collection for the first seven months of 2023 reached 105 billion Afghanis, which is 5 percent below the target. However, revenue collection increased 1.2 percent compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. Border taxes account for 58 percent of total revenue.

The Frontier Post