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Ministry of Finance says draft budget for next fiscal years has been drawn up

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(Last Updated On: December 29, 2021)

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) said the draft budget for the next fiscal year has been prepared and will be submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval within the next week.

Ahmad Wali Haqmal, a spokesman for the ministry, said the entire budget is dependent on domestic revenue income and not on foreign aid.

Haqmal said he expected the Council of Ministers to approve the draft budget by the end of the current month and submit it to the relevant agencies for implementation.

Haqmal added: “The draft budget is ready in the ministry and its work is almost done.”

“This is the first budget of the Afghan government in the last 20 years, which is not dependent on foreign aid and we have built it all on the basis of our domestic revenue. The Ministry of Finance is done with its work and after that it will go to the Council of Ministers for approval and after approval we will proceed according to our budget in the next financial year,” said Haqmal.

Haqmal said that there is no problem in covering the operating budget which is funded by the generation of domestic revenue, but there are some problems with the development budget. He said limited, but important, development projects have been included in this budget.

Haqmal said that if domestic revenue rises in the first half of the year, the budget will be adjusted and more development projects will be included.

He added: “We have no problem with the operating budget and the operating budget is made up from our domestic revenue, but we have also considered development projects for next year, which will be fewer than last year …As our revenue increases, other development projects will also be included in it. ”

But economists say the budget is not just about meeting the costs of ministries, but also about implementing development projects across the country and providing services to the people.

In previous years, Afghanistan’s budget for each fiscal year was estimated at 4.5 billion afghanis, up to 40 percent of which was earmarked for development projects, at that time, the entire budget would have been based on foreign aid and the deficit would have been higher than the discretionary budget.

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Pakistan’s commerce delegation wraps up ‘successful’ trip to Kabul

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires for Afghanistan, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani said in a video message on Wednesday that the recent talks between Islamabad’s commerce delegation and Afghan officials had been “successful” and that he hoped this would give fresh impetus to bilateral trade between the two countries.

“I’m happy to report that this was a successful visit and both sides have agreed to work together for mutual benefit on a number of areas.

“They will facilitate transit, they will facilitate bilateral trade and they will take all possible measures that create an environment for continuous and productive trade and economic relations between the two countries,” he said.

The delegation, led by Commerce Ministry Secretary Khurram Agha, arrived in Kabul on Monday and had numerous talks on various issues with Islamic Emirate officials.

The visit came amid deteriorating bilateral relations following several suicide attacks in Pakistan in the last couple of months that Islamabad attributes to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, a group they claim is based in Afghanistan.

Diplomatic tensions between the two countries over the last few months have led to economic losses, as key border crossings for trade and travel have closed intermittently, resulting in goods trucks being held up at border posts.

Afghanistan’s Minister for Industry and Commerce Nurudin Azizi meanwhile said the IEA had held fruitful negotiations in a cordial environment with the visiting delegation.

“We discussed in detail with the Pakistani side specific issues related to heavy transport vehicles that will be resolved,” he said.

“We will achieve positive results as our discussions remained productive.”

Azizi said Afghanistan expected to sign a formal agreement with Pakistan within six months, allowing Pakistani trucks to enter Afghanistan and travel to the Central Asian states and Afghan trucks to go all the way to the Pakistani port cities of Karachi and Gwadar.

Apart from discussing trade-related issues, the two sides also focused on movement of passengers, patients and businesspeople across their common border during these talks.

Azizi noted uninterrupted trade and business between Kabul and Islamabad would play a significant role in creating a peaceful environment between the two countries and facilitate their economic development.

He said the two sides also pledged to enhance their existing trade volume, adding that both countries could become ideal markets for each other if they did not allow business to be affected by any geopolitical tensions.

Azizi also said Afghanistan could export agricultural products to China and other countries via Pakistan’s ports and cities.

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Turkey’s 77 keen to start up cement plant in Jawzjan

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(Last Updated On: March 27, 2024)

Turkish construction company 77 officials have met with the acting minister of mines and petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar, about investing in a cement factory in Yatim Taq area of Jawzjan province.

The minister, Shahabuddin Dalawar, has said the ministry will cooperate with the company but first needs a proposal, including details around how they plan to implement the project as well as social development plans.

Turkey’s 77 company has been working on electricity generation projects in Afghanistan for several years.

A number of industrialists say that if more investment is made in the cement production sector, not only will domestic demand be met, but the country’s cement will also be exported.

At the moment, cement is being produced by private companies in the provinces of Kandahar, Parwan and Herat.

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Pakistan delegation discusses solutions with Azizi to resolve trade issues

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(Last Updated On: March 26, 2024)

Officials of the Afghan Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday held a meeting with the visiting delegation of Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce where they discussed challenges around trade relations between the two countries.

The Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry Nooruddin Azizi said due to recent political tensions, trade and transit relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have faced problems. He said efforts are being made to find solutions to the existing problems and to distance political issues from trade issues.

The visiting delegation is in Kabul at the invitation of the ministry of commerce and industry.

Azizi said the Pakistani delegation said at the meeting that all commercial, transit and economic issues between the two countries will be discussed and efforts will be made to keep trade issues separate from political issues.

“We want to talk about issues that are especially in the field of trade and transit, and we want to prioritize all issues related to trade, we are trying to separate trade and transit from political issues,” said Azizi.

He also expressed hope that his meeting with the Pakistani delegation will help solve the existing challenges and improve and expand trade and transit relations between the two countries.

According to economic experts, since Afghanistan is a transit route between Central Asia and South Asia, the Islamic Emirate can use it to pressurize Pakistan so as not to create trade problems.

“Pressure should be put on Pakistan with the same means we have so that the agreement signed between us and Pakistan and they are forced to comply. We must use this agreement and use it correctly and we should be emotional and not say hostile words, but we want our right,” said Seyed Masoud, an economic expert.

Officials from the ministry also said that talks were held on other issues, including implementing the PTA preferential trade agreement or TAD, finalizing negotiations about APPTA, determining the date of air transit, 24-hour operations in the ports of Torkham, Chaman, and Spin Boldak.

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