KABUL (SW) – The Afghanistan Central Bank/ Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), has claimed the local afghani currency improved by 17.25% in value against the US dollar in the past fiscal year.
The DAB stated on Thursday, September 5, during a briefing on the bank’s annual achievements at the Government Information and Media Center in Kabul.
Ahmad Jawad Sadat, the Chief of Monetary Policy at the DAB, reported that inflation rates have been effectively managed over the current solar year, decreasing by 2.5%. He noted that the inflation rate for the current year stands at -6.6%, compared to -9.1% in the previous year.
Sadat explained: “Over the past year, the average inflation rate was -8.4%, while the year before it was 4.8%. These figures indicate that inflation levels have been kept under control.”
He also highlighted that the value of the Afghani has appreciated by 17.25% against the dollar in the past year. The average exchange rate of the dollar against the Afghani was around 72 afghanis last year, compared to approximately 87 afghanis the year before.
Additionally, Ehsanullah Mansour, Deputy Director of Banking Supervision at the Central Bank, reported a reduction in restrictions on citizen bank deposits.
He said, “Restrictions on Afghani deposits have increased from 70,000 to 150,000 afghanis per week, and from 250,000 to 500,000 afghanis per month. For dollar deposits, the limits have been raised from 1,000 to 2,000 dollars per week and from 3,000 to 6,000 dollars per month.”
Other achievements of the Central Bank over the past year include the incineration of over seven billion afghanis in old banknotes, the issuance of 2,000 licenses to money exchangers, and the analysis of 114 cases involving money laundering, drug trafficking, tax evasion, and fraud.
