Residents of Kabul expressed concerns about the high prices, saying that despite a drop in US dollar prices against Afghani currency, the price of goods have remained the same.
Residents told TOLOnews that they have been struggling with severe economic conditions and that food prices should be decreased.
“Food prices have surged compared to before. The people are concerned and their economic condition has deteriorated. I and the whole people call on the government to pay attention to this problem,” said Azizuddin, a resident of Kabul.
“The traders should reduce the prices of the food materials. The US dollar is 84 afghani. But people are still purchasing the food materials with previous prices,” said Enayatulah, a resident of Kabul.
Meanwhile, the Union of Sarai Shahzada Money Exchange Market in Kabul said that increases in exports, and monetary policy, caused the stability of the Afghani currency.
“The value of the afghani has increased against the foreign currencies over the past several days. The dollar is also dropping. One USD is currently exchanged for 84.1 Afghani currency right now,” he said.
Shopkeepers said that some traders are involved in keeping the prices high.
“The prices of food materials are not linked with the currency because the prices are monopolized by two or three traders. So, the rise in prices of flour, oil and rice and other materials is because our traders are unfair,” said Imamuddin, a shopkeeper.
But the Kabul municipality said that it has implemented measures to control food prices.
“The price of dollars has dropped over the past days. Thus, the Kabul municipality considers these changes and issues prices which bring an increase or decrease in the prices of essential materials,” said Nematullah Barakzai, a spokesman for the municipality.
This comes as the WFP recently announced that 9 out 10 families in Afghanistan lack access to enough food.