Worn-out currency notes add to Afghanistan's growing economic woes

Tolo News reported that the people of Afghanistan have expressed frustration over the use of the old and damaged banknotes, saying that their usage causes problems in business deals.

"There is a lot of worn-out currency in the market, particularly the 100, 50, 20 and 10 Afs bills are very worn," Tolo News reported citing a shopkeeper, Samir.

While Asadullah a Kabul resident said: "The government should try to issue a good quality currency."

Zia who is a money exchanger and purchases the worn-out currency and then sells it to the government's central bank said: "The bank doesn't want to take the money from us. The bank says it doesn't have the sufficient budget to buy the worn-out currency."

Afghanistan is on the brink of mass starvation after nearly four months since the Taliban seized power and now aid groups said that it has threatened to kill a million children this winter, The New York Times reported.

Afghanistan which has suffered from malnutrition for decades is witnessing a worsening hunger crisis in recent months.

This winter, an estimated 22.8 million people -- more than half the population -- are expected to face potentially life-threatening levels of food insecurity, according to an analysis by the United Nations World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization. Of those, 8.7 million people are nearing famine -- the worst stage of a food crisis, said The New York Times.

Meanwhile, the International Crisis Group (ICG) in a newly published report said that if the international community does not scale up economic support, more Afghans may die of hunger and starvation in the current crisis than from the fighting in the past 20 years.

"Hunger and destitution following the Taliban's takeover of the country seem poised to kill more Afghans than all the bombs and bullets of the past two decades," the report read.

As per the ICG report, the Taliban's inability to run a modern economy and the decision of foreign donors to cut off all but emergency aid are the main reasons behind the economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. (ANI)