Business
Afghanistan-Uzbekistan ink new deal to maintain Hairatan-Mazar railway line
An Afghan government delegation has signed a new two-year contract with Uzbekistan for the maintenance of the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway line.
This comes after Uzbekistan suspended operations early this month for 10 days.
The new contract for the maintenance of the railway line was signed during the Afghan delegation’s visit to Uzbekistan, officials confirmed.
Operations were suspended on February 1, which caused major problems for traders. However, operations resumed on Friday and there has been a steady increase in the volume of goods being transported on the line.
“The road was closed and people were facing many problems. We now see that 100 to 150 wagons arrive daily, and the problem seems to have been solved,” said Abdullah Abdali, a representative of the Prime Minister’s office.
Late last year, Afghanistan signed a contract for the maintenance and management of the line with a Kazakh company but the deal fell through and instead a new agreement was signed with Uzbekistan.
Now however, the contract has been signed with an Uzbek company and is valid for two years.
Bakht-ur-Rahman Sharaft, the General Director of Afghanistan Railway Authority (ARA) said: “They (Uzbeks) did not want those who we had an agreement with to be in the Hairatan port at the same time as Uzbekistan. We realized that they cannot manage and coordinate among themselves. We had to give the contract back to the brother country of Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan also gave a discount.”
Meanwhile, an Uzbekistan official said that they will support Afghanistan in its efforts to extend the line to Pakistan.
“As a result of our talks with the Afghan delegation, we agreed to cooperate with the Afghan government for the extension of the railway line to Pakistan,” Jamshed Baba Qul said.
Business
Ministry of commerce allocates land for oil refineries
Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi, said in a meeting with oil refinery officials that as soon as they are ready to invest, the ministry will establish an oil and gas industrial park.
In this meeting, refinery officials discussed problems regarding the Qashqari oil field and agreed that land should be provided. They said oil extracted from Qashqari needed to be refined through the standard process.
Azizi, while announcing the cooperation and support of the Islamic Emirate and especially the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the private sector of the country, said: “A joint proposal should be arranged and submitted to this ministry for the land of the refineries, and also if the officials of the refineries are ready to invest in the area of Dara-e-Hairatan, an oil and gas industrial park will be created and the land will be placed under their control.”
Azizi emphasized the need to increase the capacity of existing refineries and the quality of oil, shared the decision of the High Economic Commission regarding the establishment of a large refinery.
Business
Pakistan’s Federal Secretary of Commerce invited to visit Kabul
Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, has invited Pakistan’s Federal Secretary of Commerce Mohammad Khurram Agha to visit Kabul.
In a virtual meeting, the two sides discussed the progress made in the last two and a half years in the country, the increase in trade between the two countries, solving problems and removing trade and transit barriers.
They also discussed the need for more facilities, establishing close relations between the governments and private sectors of the two countries and boosting regional cooperation, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said in a statement Monday.
Business
Headline inflation in Afghanistan down to -10.2% in January: World Bank
In January 2024, headline inflation experienced a significant downturn, reaching -10.2 percent on a year-on-year basis, the World Bank said in a report.
This substantial drop was largely due to a sharp decline in prices across both food and non-food categories, the report said.
Moreover, core inflation, which strips out the typically volatile food and energy sectors, also fell into negative territory, posting a rate of -6.5 percent on year-on-year basis.
“This ongoing core deflation reflects a troubling inability of both private and public sectors to stimulate sufficient demand. While this period of falling prices may offer temporary financial relief to the most vulnerable households by reducing the cost of living, it can also harm the broader macroeconomy,” the World Bank said.
According to the bank, Afghanistan’s exports contracted by 5 percent on year-on-year basis to $140.5 million in January 2024, down from $148.1 million the previous January.
Food exports to India jumped by 22 percent, compared to an 18 percent decline in Pakistan. Pakistan and India continued to be the top export destinations, claiming 45 percent and 34 percent of the total exports in January 2024, respectively.
The 2023 growth trend in imports extended into January 2024, hitting $830 million, up 37 percent from $600 million in January 2023.
According to the report, in 2023, the afghani (AFN) saw a significant 27 percent appreciation against the US dollar, buoyed by the influx of around $1.8 billion in UN cash shipments and an estimated $2 billion in remittances.
Revenues have been below the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) target during the first eleven months of FY2024, with border taxes underperforming despite a surge in imports.
Over the eleven-month span of FY2024, from March 22, 2023, to February 21, 2024, Afghanistan’s revenue collection reached AFN 189 billion, narrowly missing the target by 2 percent but marking a 5.6 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, the report said.
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