Afghanistan Economic Crisis. 3 major setbacks to Taliban, how Afghanistan will run with drug-opium-illegal mining

New Delhi: Taliban has suffered 3 major setbacks in a week. On Tuesday, the US frozen $9.5 billion in assets of Afghanistan’s central bank, Dr. Which is deposited in American banks. Apart from this, on Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also stopped $ 450 million in aid. Which he was supposed to get next week. This was the largest ever aid from the International Monetary Fund to Afghanistan. Apart from this, the US has stopped shipments to Afghanistan in dollars last week. Obviously, this is a big setback for the economy of Afghanistan, which is already in turmoil. These restrictions can create a big problem for the Afghan economy with a GDP of about $ 20 billion. According to a World Bank report, 75 percent of the total public spending by Afghanistan comes from grants.

What did the IMF say

On withholding aid, IMF spokeswoman Gary Rice said: “There is currently uncertainty in the international community regarding recognition of the government of Afghanistan. Given this, the IMF has decided to suspend Special Drawing Rights (SDR).” International organizations are confused by the formation of the government of the terrorist organization Taliban in Afghanistan. They fear that the Taliban might not start using this money in terrorist activities.

How much is deposited in America

Afghanistan Central Bank Governor Ajmal Ahmadi has tweeted that the bank has deposits of $ 7 billion with the US Federal Reserve in the form of US bills and bonds, gold, cash etc. Apart from this, there is an amount of $ 1.3 billion under the International Account, $ 0.7 billion in the form of BIS. Obviously, this amount means a lot for a country of $ 20 billion economy. In such a situation, running the country of Taliban will also be a big challenge.

What are the options for the Taliban?

After these sanctions, Ajmal Ahmadi tweeted that the Taliban can currently use only 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent of the total deposits in Afghanistan around the world. Obviously the economic crisis is going to deepen. According to a Reuters report, there are gold and silver coins worth about US $ 159,600 in the central bank’s vault. Apart from this, there is a foreign exchange of $362 million with the banks. Which is currently under the control of Taliban.

Taliban illegally earns $1.6 billion

Taliban is a terrorist organization, so the information about its authentic earnings is not available, but according to the NATO report received by Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, the Taliban average 1.5 billion annually through taxes on drugs, border goods, illegal mining. earn dollars. And in March 2020, it increased to $ 1.6 billion. Similarly, according to the June 2021 report of the United Nations, in the year 2020 alone, illegal mining has made a profit of $ 464 million.

Afghan citizens are in bad condition

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, in the year 2020, 47 percent of the country’s population lives below the poverty line. Whereas there are 34.3 percent people who earn only every $1.90 (about Rs 150). Afghanistan is ranked 173 out of 190 countries in the world for business. And there was an unemployment rate of 11.7 percent.

This can become a means of earning

In such a situation, a way is visible in front of the Taliban to create a means of earning from their mineral wealth. According to the estimates of various agencies, iron ore worth $ 400 billion, copper of $ 270 billion, gold of $ 25 billion, cobalt of $ 50 billion are present in Afghanistan. Apart from this, about 1600 million barrels of crude oil and more than 15 thousand trillion cubic feet of gas are present in Afghanistan. Apart from this, there is an abundance of rare earth metals. Which is used more in modern technology. And so far, China and Pakistan are the only countries that openly stand with the Taliban. China has been keeping an eye on these mineral deposits from the beginning. In such a situation, in the coming times, these reserves can become a source of income for the Taliban. But he is not going to get the benefit of this immediately.