KABUL (SW) – Nearly six months ago, the central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank, announced the printing and distribution of 100 million new banknotes, but worn out and written off bank notes continue to circulate in the market causing problems.
A number of Kabul residents, expressing concern about the circulation of worn-out money in the markets, say that the new banknotes have not yet reached them. Zabihullah, a resident of Kabul city, says that the circulation of old money in the markets has caused many problems among the people. According to him, “some people don’t believe it, some say it’s not fake. No one buys it, most of the notes are worn out. In a bundle of cash, there are always fake notes.”
Likewise, Hamed, another resident who owns a fuel shop at the Ansari intersection, said that there are many old coins in the market as well: “When people come to buy fuel, they pay 500 afghanis. When I give them the change, they don’t take it and say that it is old, but when they come and get the fuel, they give the old money. I have to figure out what to do, because you can’t let customers go.”
Meanwhile, Hasibullah Noori, the spokesperson of the DAB, in response to the concerns of the residents of Kabul, told Salam Watandar that the process of converting 10 and 20 afghanis banknotes has started recently, and citizens can convert worn-out money without paying a fee to get the new ones. He adds: “Our citizens who have 10 and 20 afghani banknotes can convert their old banknotes into new ones without any commission by visiting commercial banks and Da Afghanistan Bank agencies, and the process of distributing 50 and 100 afghanis will start soon.”
On the other hand, Abdul Nasir Rashtia, an expert on economic issues, says that the existence of old banknotes and the unavailability of new banknotes have created problems in people’s daily business. He considers the reason for the complete distribution of new banknotes to be related to the central bank’s monetary policies because according to him, this bank injects a certain amount of money based on the necessity of the market. “If money is distributed more than necessary, it will cause very serious problems and inflation will occur and the value of the afghan currency will decrease drastically.”
ENDS
