The economic crisis in Afghanistan is one of the worst in history, the UN says

The UN has predicted that Afghanistan’s total domestic income will be 20 percent within a year after the Taliban take over, representing one of the worst economic crises in history.

“[It’s] We have not seen any economic downturn, “said Abdallah Al Dardari, chief of the UN Development Program in Afghanistan and deputy prime minister of Syria.”

A UNDP report released on Wednesday said that such tensions took five years after the Syrian civil war broke out, and are expected to increase to 30 percent next year.

The sharp economic downturn reflects Afghanistan’s weakened state despite nearly two decades of US-led aid and billions of dollars in aid. The country was not strong enough to withstand the recent shocks of the Covid-19 plague, drought and the seizure of the Islamic State group according to the authors of the report.

UNDP predicts that per capita income in Afghanistan, Asia’s poorest country, will drop to $ 350 next year from $ 500 in 2020, down from $ 650 a decade ago.

Wealth he relied on outside help, which UNDP estimates spend 80 percent.

Afghanistan’s foreign currency, which accounts for about half of Afghanistan’s $ 20bn annual revenue, they too were cold As soon as Muslims took power this year, it caused a financial and financial crisis.

Hundreds of workers are in debt for months to pay, hospitals are on the verge of collapse and nine out of 10 Afghan people are expected to live in poverty by next year. More than half of the population 39m they need food aid, about one quarter of the population suffer from the “emergency” of food shortages and potential hunger.

“Even in the worst of conditions like in Lebanon, they still get money from Lebanon,” said Adnan Mazarei, an economist at the Peterson Institute think-tank in the US, and one of the authors of the report. “In Venezuela, oil is still there. Afghanistan is almost exclusively a classroom.

[In] countries affected by natural disasters. . . “There is hope for recovery,” added Mazarei. “It is not ready for Afghanistan here.”

The problem has grown so severe that it is too late to prevent disruption, the authors of the report said, although measures such as cold water storage and assistance and remittances to families could help.

“Even if the goods are not cold enough, humanitarian assistance doubles, it will not be enough to alleviate the suffering we see,” said Zafiris Tzannatos, a professor at the American University of Beirut. “Now we have fallen off a cliff. No matter how much we give, there is a problem that progresses to the point of disaster. ”

UNDP says Taliban policies are increasingly detrimental.

The idea of ​​a team that ban on women’s employment and education will have financial costs, according to the report. UNDP estimates that female unemployment will cost $ 1bn, or 5 percent of GDP, and reduce productivity.

“If you fail to save on social benefits, about half of your people. . . then you will be a waste for many years to come, ”said Tzannatos.