Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) on Wednesday announced offering $32 million to the market for keeping the Afghan currency stable, blaming the fall of the afghani currency on profiteers.
The Afghan currency significantly lost its value against the US dollar between Wednesday morning and afternoon.
One US dollar was accounted for 76.50 afghanis at Sara-i-Shahzada money exchange market in Kabul in the morning but the buying rate of the greenback soared to 77.20 afghanis and selling rate to 77.30 afghanis in the afternoon.
DAB officials said the Iranian Rial and Pakistani rupee had also lost their values against the USD and some profiteers in Afghanistan used the situation as an opportunity for hoarding of foreign currency.
DAB head Khalil Seddiq told a press conference in Kabul that there were many factors that led to the depreciation of the afghani against the dollar including hoarding of foreign currency by a number of profiteers.
He cited the decline in Iranian and Pakistani currencies, the hike in the USD value and high demand of the USD in Iran and Pakistan as other reasons behind the soaring USD value in Afghanistan.
The central bank chief said trade deficit, low domestic production and insecurity in the country also contributed to the decline of the Afghan currency against the USD.
Seddiq said they were trying to identify profiteers in cooperation with relevant organs in order to bring them to justice.
“We are capable to fulfill all currency needs of Afghanistan, we in the past years also witnessed the Afghan currency’s sudden fall against USD,” he said.
In response to a question, he said: “We support the free market and we have no right to control the currency, we use the managed fluctuation rate policy, the USD rate is defined as other goods in the market based on offer and demand, we only interfere when hoarding or profiteering is involved,”
Seddiq said the afghani currency fell 7.9 percent against the USD this year, but Pakistani rupee fell by 12 percent, Indian rupee by 12.6 percent, Turkey lira 69 percent, and Iranian rial by 277 percent.
He said the currency fall in other countries also affected the afghani currency, but less affected as compared to other countries’ currencies.
