RFE/RL reports:

Hundreds of Afghans stand along dusty roadsides in the capital, Kabul, desperately trying to sell their meager possessions.

Many offer used pots, plates, and cups that are piled up on bedsheets. Others sell tattered mattresses and old rugs or hope someone will buy their television or refrigerator.

“There are no jobs and we don’t have any money,” says Haji Aziz, an unemployed cook who stands by a heap of kitchen utensils for sale along a busy road in downtown Kabul. “I’m trying to sell whatever I can so I can feed my family,” says Aziz, a weary, middle-aged man who is the sole breadwinner for his family of nine.

He is among millions of Afghans who are reeling from the economic shocks of the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan, an impoverished, war-scarred country of some 38 million people.

Since the militant group’s capture of Kabul on August 15, residents have been hit by soaring food prices and cash shortages. Inflation has surged and the value of the national currency, the afghani, has plummeted.

Afghans lined up to withdraw money from banks in Kabul on September 1 as financial institutions imposed limits of $200 in withdrawals per week.

Many businesses and stores remain closed. Government workers, many of whom have gone into hiding, have been unpaid. Thousands of people line up outside banks and ATMs as armed Taliban fighters attempt to keep order.

Even before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan’s economy was extremely fragile, propped up for 20 years by foreign aid. International assistance accounts for around 40 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

But since the militant group regained power, foreign donors have suspended aid to Afghanistan. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have also halted payments.

Foreign reserves of the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the central bank, have also been frozen. DAB has reserves of around $9 billion, most of which is held in the United States. [Continue reading…]