$508m budget will cover the first quarter of 2022, entirely dedicated to funding govt institutions
\n KABUL:
\nThe Taliban said Thursday they have approved their first budget for Afghanistan since the hardline Islamists returned to power in August, with no mention of foreign aid.
\nInternational assistance represented 40 per cent of Afghanistan\u2019s GDP and made up 80 per cent of its budget when the former US-backed government was in control.
\nWhen it crumbled in August and the Taliban took command, Western powers froze billions of dollars in aid and assets in what the United Nations described as an \u201cunprecedented fiscal shock\u201d.
\n\u201cFor the first time in the last two decades, we made a budget that is not dependent on foreign aid and that is a very big achievement for us,\u201d said Taliban finance ministry spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal.
\nThe budget of 53.9 billion afghanis ($508 million) approved on Wednesday will cover the first quarter of 2022 and is almost entirely dedicated to funding government institutions.
\nHaqmal said state workers, many of whom have not been paid for months, will start receiving salaries by the end of January.
\nWomen staff, who have mostly been blocked from returning to their jobs, will also be paid.
\n\u201cWe count them like they have come back to work. We have not fired them,\u201d Haqmal said.
\nAround 4.7 billion afghanis will be spent on development projects including transport infrastructure.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a small amount but that\u2019s what we can do now,\u201d Haqmal said.
\nThe Taliban exchequer is funded by \u201cour own resources\u201d including tax, trade and mining revenue, he added.
\nThe Islamists are set to announce their first annual budget in March, shifting the fiscal year to match Afghanistan\u2019s solar calendar.
\nSince they took power Western nations have grappled with the task of channelling aid to the nation without financing its new rulers.
\nMeanwhile millions are facing hunger this winter as a cash, fuel and food crisis grips the impoverished country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
$508m budget will cover the first quarter of 2022, entirely dedicated to funding govt institutions KABUL: The Taliban said Thursday they have approved their first budget for Afghanistan since the hardline Islamists returned to power in August, with no mention of foreign aid. International assistance represented 40 per cent of Afghanistan\u2019s GDP and made up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-238828","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n