'Barely enough to even eat': Afghan citizens fear abject poverty with economy in freefall

With decades of war already making Afghanistan Asia’s poorest country, the nation's economy has plunged to new depths since the return of the Taliban last August.

Afghanistan’s economic woes can largely be attributed to the fact that foreign aid has dried up almost completely. Under previous administrations, money from foreign organisations and governments accounted for up to 80% of the country’s budget expenditure.

But immediately after the fall of Kabul, these organisations moved quickly to prevent money from falling into the hands of the Taliban.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) paused over $400 million in funding, with the World Bank also preventing any of its resources from reaching Afghanistan.

"The World Food Programme (WFP) believes that 98% of the population doesn’t have enough to eat, with around 25% already approaching famine levels of food insecurity. An economic crisis is quickly spilling over into a humanitarian catastrophe"

Perhaps most significantly, the United States froze the reserves of the Afghan Central Bank, which are held in New York.

President Biden announced in February that half of the country's $7 billion in reserves are to be used for humanitarian purposes, with the other half to be seized by the US government and distributed to the families of 9/11 victims.

Because of these measures, the Taliban has struggled to access cash. The country has also been completely frozen out of the global financial system and capital markets. As a result, public sector workers cannot be paid, public services cannot be sustained, and unemployment is rising drastically.

Ajmal Paiman used to be a construction worker in Jalalabad.

However, given that these public works relied on foreign aid, he soon found himself unemployed. “All work has stopped […] I became jobless and now I have to borrow money from friends,” Ajmal revealed. 

He is just one of the many Afghans that has seen their livelihoods disappear, as the foreign cash that used to sustain his country’s economy no longer arrives.

Especially because economies globally are now facing more challenging times, Afghanistan is finding itself in an ever-more dangerous position. Indeed, the IMF predicted that the Afghan economy will shrink by 30% in the aftermath of the takeover.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) believes that annual per capita income will also drop by 30%, decreasing the average yearly wage to just $350.

This would mean most Afghans would be living considerably below the international poverty line of $1.90 a day.

With incomes shrinking, the unemployment rate is predicted to rise to 40%, and with the war in Ukraine pushing up the prices of wheat and other grain, many are battling to purchase sufficient amounts of food.

Paiman has seen prices for essential goods increase in his area “by about 50%.”

Because he is now unemployed, and his wife is also unable to work because of the Taliban’s reintroduction of Islamist measures, their family is finding it increasingly hard to buy enough food.

Paiman’s experience is widely shared in Afghanistan: the World Food Programme (WFP) believes that 98% of the population doesn’t have enough to eat, with around 25% already approaching famine levels of food insecurity.

An economic crisis is quickly spilling over into a humanitarian catastrophe.

"With incomes shrinking, the unemployment rate predicted to rise to 40%, and with the war in Ukraine pushing up the prices of wheat and other grain, many are battling to purchase sufficient amounts of food"

On the ground, the mood is increasingly bleak. Maaz Arabi, an Afghan living in Britain who manages Hayat Orphanage in the Laghman Province, recently returned to travel across the country. He told The New Arab that the economy is “hopeless.”

“The government has no economic policy – they have imposed high taxes on the people, but there’s no business, and no money coming into the country,” Arabi said. “The financial system has collapsed, the banking [sector] isn’t working, and the Taliban is only giving jobs to their own people – the people that fought with them over the past 20 years.”

Unsurprisingly, he, therefore, encountered “a lot of despair” while in Afghanistan.

With the economy continuing to tank, many have “barely enough to eat,” with the Taliban doing little or nothing to help.

Arabi also noted that because Afghanistan is struggling to pay neighbouring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan for the electricity it receives from them, many fear their power supplies will soon begin to fail.

Natural disasters, such as prolonged drought and the recent earthquake in Paktika, are only adding to the sense of crisis. “All kinds of calamities have come together and are having a really bad impact on the people,” he said.

Given the economic crisis Afghanistan is grappling with, it’s little surprise that the levels of desperation are increasing.

Arabi said that anyone who can leave is taking the opportunity to do so, heading mainly towards neighbouring countries like Iran to look for employment there.

Safdari, who used to be a foreign affairs journalist in Kabul, said he is considering migrating to Pakistan in a bid to find work as a labourer. This option is not possible for many, however, with passports now costing as much as $800.

Those who remain face a grim set of circumstances. The economy is collapsing. Foreign aid is not forthcoming. Political repression is making a comeback and many are being pushed to the edge.

Noorullah Mamozai, a resident of Kabul, recently saw the aftermath of attempted self-immolation in the city’s Dehmazang Square. A man had tried to set himself on fire in front of his children and onlookers. The reason? He had lost his job, run out of money, and couldn’t afford to feed his family. The act was one of protest and sheer desperation.

As Afghanistan confronts an economic and humanitarian crisis, the sad truth is that his feelings are far from unique.

Harry Clynch is Features Editor at Disruption Banking. He writes on politics, international affairs and international markets. His words have appeared in The Spectator, UnHerd and others. 

Follow him on Twitter: @clynchharry