A developing economic crisis in Afghanistan is adding a fresh layer of turmoil in the country.
Why it matters: “[T]he value of the Afghan currency could collapse, inflation could accelerate and the mix of violence and chaos could be prolonged,” the AP writes.
What’s new: Wire-transfer services Western Union and MoneyGram stopped facilitating payments into Afghanistan, a flow of money that’s “a key source of support for many Afghan families,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
- The backdrop: ATMs are running out of cash. Prices for a range of essentials like flour and oil are rising sharply.
The big picture: The country’s economy has relied on foreign aid that’s at risk of shriveling up with the Taliban takeover.
What to watch: The Taliban appointed Mohammad Idris — “an obscure official” — as acting head of Afghanistan’s central bank, charged with steering monetary policy, Bloomberg reports.
The afghani, the country’s currency, is in freefall. For a place that facilitates trade in U.S. dollars, any imports will get more expensive.
- What they're saying: “If the Taliban don’t get cash infusions soon to defend the afghani, I think there’s a real risk of a currency devaluation that makes it hard to buy bread on the streets of Kabul for ordinary people," the Overseas Development Institute’s Graeme Smith tells the AP.
The bottom line: “Afghanistan, unfortunately, was already facing multiple crises. … What you have on top of that is going to be economic hardships,” Ajmal Ahmady, who served as Afghanistan's central bank chief until the government fell...