The UN top envoy in Afghanistan said that the organization is working on a proposal to urge donors to provide eight billion dollars in aid for Afghanistan.
Talking at a gathering at the Arg (the presidential palace) on Wednesday in Kabul, Deborah Lyons, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said that transfer of cash to Afghanistan would continue until the banking system is revived in the country.
“We secured the permission to import cash to address the crippling lack of liquidity, assisted by your administration in doing so. We imported in December, last month of last year, over 120 million dollars and this month another 32 million,” she said.
The Arg was the venue for the first international conference about economic conditions since the fall of the former government.
Representatives of 20 countries attended the summit, some via videoconference.
Addressing the summit, Prime Minister Mullah Hassan Akhund said that short term aid is not enough to tackle the crisis, and he called for the removal of obstacles in the way of economic recovery.
“A mutual path should be formed to meet the problems of people on time, and forever. The short term aid is not sufficiently beneficial for the nation,” he said.
The Islamic Emirate’s cabinet members praised the UN support for Afghanistan.
The Second Deputy of the Prime Minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, said that the Islamic Emirate would monitor the distribution of aid to vulnerable people.
“The political conditions of the donors are not acceptable. We never want economical reliance, which brings crisis, we never want to be in the circle of political conditions of donors. We will never sacrifice economic independence,” said Second Deputy PM Abdul Salam Hanafi.
The cabinet of the Islamic Emirate has made a plan to tackle the economic crisis in the country.
“The Ministry of Finance put forth a legitimate stance. The humanitarian aid is not sufficient and there is a need for development aid,” said Hedayatullah Badri, acting Finance Minister.
The UN special envoy said that some achievements of the past two decades have been violated. She also said that over half of the country’s population is living under the poverty line.
She said that the UN is attempting to remove existing sanctions on Afghanistan.
