The Union of Money Exchangers of Sarai Shahzada said that the recent decline in the value of the dollar against the Afghani was brought on by both the Central Bank of Afghanistan’s regular monetary program and the implementation of large projects in the country.
The union said that the Afghani is now used in the provinces where foreign currencies were previously used.
“To sustain Afghani stability, Da Afghanistan Bank has created a regular policy. It is constantly attempting to control the markets and not allow the afghani to lose its value as in the past,” said Abdul Rahman Zirak, a spokesman for the union.
However, despite the dollar’s decline in value relative to the Afghani, several Kabul residents said that the cost of food in the marketplace remained high.
Residents asked the officials to try to control food prices.
“The cost of food hasn’t greatly changed despite the dollar’s decline in value. We ask the Islamic Emirate to control the cost of food in the marketplaces,” said Mohammadullah, another resident of Kabul.
Some shopkeepers in Kabul said that the cost of food products had barely been reduced as a result of the afghani’s rising value relative to other currencies, particularly the US dollar.
Meanwhile, Kabul Municipality said the price adjustment is based on fluctuations in the value of local and foreign money in the capital’s markets.
“The pricing list that is issued and used in Kabul City takes into consideration the value of foreign currencies,” said Nematullah Barakzai, the representative of Kabul Municipality.
The value of the dollar and other foreign currencies has dropped significantly over the past month against the afghani, and, as a result, one US dollar is currently exchanged for nearly 76 afghani.
