Kabul, Afghanistan – Shukrullah brought four carpets to sell in the Kabul area of Chaman-e Hozori. The area is full of refrigerators, pillows, fans, pillows, blankets, silverware, curtains, beds, mattresses, cooking utensils and shelves that hundreds of others carried to sell.
The material lives on rocks around the former grass that have become dust and dust, as a result of neglect and drought for many years. Everything becomes part of the living families that have been imprisoned for the last 20 years in the capital of Afghanistan. Now, they are all being sold for less to feed the same families.
“We bought 48,000 carpets from Afghanistan [$556], but now I can’t find more than 5,000 Afghanis [$58] of all, “says Shukrullah, as people search for the objects on display.
Afghans have been facing a financial crisis since the Taliban took control of the capital on August 15. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the US central bank have cut short access to Afghanistan foreign currency in recent weeks. Banks in Afghanistan were closed and most accounting machines did not provide cash.
As more banks reopened, a weekly withdrawal limit of 20,000 Afghanis ($ 232) was set. Hundreds of men and women have spent their days queuing outside the local banks, waiting for the opportunity to make money.
For families like Shukrullah however, waiting outside for organizations full of money is not possible.
“I have to earn enough to buy flour, rice and oil,” he said of 33 members of his family who all moved into the same house last year.
Even before former President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and Taliban took power, Afghanistan was already he is facing a delayed economy exacerbated by the global epidemic of COVID-19 and a prolonged drought that has devastated the agricultural economy.
In a report released last week, the United Nations warned that 97% of the population could reduce poverty by mid-2022.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convened a high-level humanitarian conference in Afghanistan in Geneva in an attempt to raise $ 600m, about one-third of the cost of food aid.
The UN has already expressed serious concern over the economic crisis and the threat it poses. “complete destruction”In Afghanistan.
According to the World Bank, the nation is considered to be dependent on aid while one-tenth of its income comes from foreign aid. Over the past 20 years, 40% of Afghanistan’s GDP has come from international aid and now, with many countries refusing to accept the Taliban government, experts have warned that the country is on the verge of a financial crisis.
‘I Served My Country’
Speaking at the Atlantic Council earlier this week, Ajmal Ahmady, a former ambassador to Afghanistan’s central bank, said the country could see GDP decline by 10-20% if global sanctions were not lifted.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said his government expected China and Russia to pay less for Western economic aid. But so far Beijing or Moscow have not been able to rectify the situation.
The program of the problem to come and the resulting industrial decline is already being felt in a number of places across the region, where people are selling everything they can to buy food and other essential foods.
Abdullah, a former 40-year-old soldier, is another example of the country’s economic woes. He likes to make about $ 200 a month as an auxiliary member. Although the Taliban called on the country’s security forces to return to work, Abdullah did not receive a phone call.
He found work as a laborer, carrying goods that people buy and sell to make several hundred Afghans every day, hoping to pay off his 3,000 Afghan dollars ($ 35) a month and provide food for his family.
“I did what I had to do. I used to serve my country, but now I have to breathe on the ground and carry dust to feed my eight children. ”
‘Bitter truths’
Despite the abundance of goods, part-time shopkeepers selling their businesses on the street say they are also not making a profit.
Zalmai, one of the vendors, was passing through new stores with pillows just reaching the roof of the taxi, but said like everything else he sold last month, it wouldn’t be much.
“Offices and offices have been closed, unemployment has risen, and prices have skyrocketed. “People are selling their products at a high price and consumers are paying nothing when they buy them,” he said as a customer asked him if Sony Bravia TV was working.
This TV would have already sold for hundreds of dollars, he says, but today it is free to go to 11,000 Afghanis ($ 127) if the customer pays right away.
“This is the bitter truth we have found,” said the customer as soon as he left.
Abdul Qadi, another salesman who sells shelves and beds along the side of the road, says his business is also struggling.
“Who would think to make a profit when you have to put food on the table every day?”
For many people near Chaman-e Hozori, the blame for what is happening in Afghanistan continues with the Taliban.
The truck driver turned to a nearby store clerk and said: “Someone should take a picture and send it to Ashraf Ghani, ”The former President who fled the United Arab Emirates on August 15.
“Send him a letter, saying, ‘I hope you’re doing well. Now look at the problems you have left in the country. ‘”