In the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, both its people and its economy are suffering. The Afghan Central Bank cannot replace its paper currency, and as a result, Afghani bills are crumbling along with the economy.

LA Times Middle East bureau chief Nabih Boulos traveled to Kabul brought the story to LA Times Today.  

The Afghanistan economy collapsed after the United States withdrew its troops last year.

“What you’re seeing is tens of thousands of people that just lost their job salaries across the board. Even for those who would do a have a job, the currency has devalued, although not as much as you would think. There’s been some moves by the Central Bank that have prevented a larger run of the currency. You can see the poverty on the streets every day. At this point, aid agencies are forced to feed half the country,” Bulos explained.  

Afghanistan has become a cash-only economy. However, that cash currency is literally crumbling. Before the Taliban took over, Afghan leaders had a deal with a Polish company that printed their money. Sanctions imposed after the takeover have made getting that money impossible.

“The new government under the Taliban has been trying to get this money. But every time they try to do so, the sanctions or fear of sanctions miraculously have prevented them from getting the money in the country. For example, people have balked at the idea of giving the Taliban money because they were afraid that other countries would sanction it. Companies that were supposed to transport all that paper money into the country were afraid because they thought they would be subject to sanctions,” Bulos explained. 

The Taliban also shut down a short-lived effort to bring cryptocurrency into the failing economy. Bulos discussed whether it is in the United States’ best interest to help stabilize the Afghan economy.  

“When there’s chaos or there’s a weak status, we have trouble. But the U.S. right now is establishing this Afghan Fund of about $3.5 billion. The intention is to use that to help Afghans build up, but without helping the Taliban,” he said. 

Click the arrow above to watch the full interview. 

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