KABUL, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) — Afghanistan had a 2.6 percent economic growth rate in the Afghan Fiscal Year 1396 (2016/2017), despite persist challenges, the country’s finance ministry reported on Tuesday.

“We witnessed a lot of achievements in the country’s economic sector in FY-1396. Over the year, our national revenue was higher than the target, and Afghanistan had an economic growth of 2.6 percent,” the ministry said.

The Afghan revenues stood at 170 billion afghani (about 2.5 billion U.S. dollars) in FY 1396, which showed an increase of about 70 billion afghani compared to two years ago, it noted.

According to the statement, the country’s exports had reached 723 million U.S. dollars during the fiscal year, against 580 million U.S. dollars two years earlier.

As a least developed country, Afghanistan is hugely dependent on aid.

During an international aid conference in Belgium in 2016, the donor countries pledged more than 15 billion U.S. dollars in development aid for Afghanistan through 2020.

Early last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) praised the Afghan government’s steps in structural reforms, pursuit of self-reliance and increased anti-corruption steps and providing job opportunities for the Afghans.