AP: International funding once paid for much of the government budget — and without it, the Taliban have largely been unable to pay salaries or provide public services. Click here to read more (external link). Related U.N. warns of ‘colossal’ collapse of Afghan banking system
Tolo News: A number of Kabul residents said Thursday they no longer want to keep their money in the country’s banks. They said they will take out all of their previously deposited funds. Since the fall of the former government, Afghans have faced challenges in withdrawing their money from the banks and said they no
Reuters: The confidential, two-page brief, written early this month by senior international economic officials for institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, said the country’s severe cash shortage began before the Taliban took control of Kabul. Click here to read more (external link). Other Economic News The Future Looks Bleak for Women Entrepreneurs
1TV: EU anti-money laundering commission added Afghanistan to the list of countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks. The central bank of the country, however, reports efforts and acts taken against anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing in compliance with EU anti-money laundering rules. Click here to read more (external link).
Reuters: Afghanistan’s central bank has granted a license to the Islamic Bank of Afghanistan (IBA), the first lender in the country to apply the interest-free principles of Islamic finance in all its operations… The IBA was previously known as Bakhtar Bank and operated under a conventional banking license since it was acquired by Azizi Bank in
The Economist: Founded in 2004, AIB is now the largest private bank in Afghanistan, holding one-fifth of the country’s deposit base. And it is also the most profitable. It is so trusted that it does not even pay interest on its deposits. Click here to read more (external link).
The Economist: Economists think of the opportunity cost of money as one reason to hold a bank deposit: rather than skulk under a mattress, cash could earn interest. In volatile, war-torn Afghanistan, neither option appeals. Money has to be kept secure somehow, but a bad bank might make off with its depositors’ money. Click here to
Tolo News: The Central Bank of Afghanistan said Saturday that after five years Afghanistan has finally been removed from the gray list, of countries with questionable banking systems, by the Financial Action Task Force(FATF). Officials at the Central Bank said Afghanistan has fulfilled all FATA conditions in order for it to be removed from the list.