The Ministry of Finance (MoF), has said in a statement that it has collected 160 billion afghanis from tax and custom revenues since the beginning of the current fiscal year (1398) which shows a 10 percent increase as compared to last year.
The statement said that 66 billion afghanis have been collected from custom revenues and the remaining 94 billion afghanis is coming from tax revenues.
According to the statement, 318 billion afghanis (71.7%) of the 399 billion national budget have been consumed so far which indicates a 34.5 billion increase as compared to last year.
The ministry said that Afghan government has spent 92 billion of its development budget and 226 billion of its normal budget.
The statement further detailed that the acting minister of finance, Mohammad Homayoun Qayyumi, has asked MoF’s budget, revenue, and treasury officials to improve coordination with governors and other ministries to collect the country’s national incomes.
This comes after President Ghani instructed the MoF on Friday, October 01, to work in coordination with all 34 governors across the country for collecting national revenues.
Though some progresses have made in recent years and the national revenues have increased, Afghanistan still remains highly dependent on foreign aid to pay most of its expenses.
In a statement issued today, October 03, the MoF said that State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Martin Jaeger, met with Qayyumi and vowed to pay an additional 6.2 billion afghanis in aid to Afghanistan.
With that amount, the total financial commitment of Germany to Afghanistan sums up to 18.1 billion afghanis in the year 2019.
“Contributions to good governance, sustainable economic development and employment, urban development and municipal infrastructure will help the government of Afghanistan move towards efficiency and self-sustainability,” Qayyumi was quoted as saying while thanking German government for its continued support to Afghanistan.
Jaeger stated that Germany is prepared to support Afghanistan. “Germany will continue to play a prominent role as a long-term supporter of Afghanistan,” he further said.
He further went on to note that Germany is eager to maintain its commitment conditioned on the Afghan government increases its anti-corruption measures, promotes good governance, and implement reforms.
On the other hand, the United States of America has pressed the Afghan government to take tough anti-corruption measures.
The State Department cut USD 100 million in aid for Afghanistan on September 19 over what it said “Afghan government’s inability to transparently manage US government resources.”
“We expect the Afghan government to demonstrate a clear commitment to fight corruption, to serve the Afghan people and to maintain their trust,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in the statement.
The Trump administration suspended USD 60 million of aid to the Afghan government’s National Procurement Authority.
