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After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in mid-August, the group will be presenting its first budget without foreign aids.
The Finance Ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan said that they have almost finalized the budget for the fiscal year 1401 and will soon be sent to the ministerial council of the interim government to pass, reported Khaama Press. The ministry's spokesperson Ahamd Wali Haqmal in his recent interview with Afghanistan's state TV (RTA) said this is the first time that Afghanistan's budget is prepared without foreign aids. Ahamd Wali Haqmal said that they have included a small amount of development budget along with the normal budget, reported Khaama Press. It comes after the claims of Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Abdul Salaam Hanafi that they have enough amount of money in banks and that the internal income of the country will enable them to pay salaries of civil servants. Meanwhile, the country is in turmoil and an economic crisis looms large as unemployment and the rising prices of fuel and food pose mounting challenges. Citizens said that they have been struggling to pay for food and basic cooking goods due to their high prices. Since the Taliban's takeover on August 15, government employees have only been paid their one-month salaries and the IEA has promised to pay the rest of the salaries of government employees before the end of the fiscal year, reported Khaama Press. Afghanistan is on the brink of mass starvation after nearly four months since the Taliban seized power. Aid groups have said that it can result in the death of a million children this winter. 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. 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)
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