Afghanistan’s customs income has almost doubled compared to last year, according to officials of the Ministry of Finance.
Based on the statistics of the ministry, 61 billion Afghanis were collected during the course of the previous seven months.
The Ministry of Finance’s head of customs tariffs believes that the decrease of corruption, the implementation of laws, and product transparency are three factors that boosted the nation’s income.
“This year, from the month of Hamal till Mizan, around 61 billion in income has been collected,” said Abdul Rahman Weqad, head of customs tariffs.
Weqad noted that Herat, Nangarhar, and Kandahar customs generate the bulk of the country’s income.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce and Investment said that the value of Afghanistan’s mineral exports and dried fruit to Russia, Pakistan, India, Europe and Central Asia has surged and now exceeds $1 billion.
According to ACCI, the country’s import have decreased 25% as a result of the rise in domestic production and the fall in domestic demand.
“In previous years, we didn’t have more than 600 to 800 million dollars, but this is about 1 billion and 96 million dollars. This year, it increased to almost 1.5 billion,” ACCI board member Khanjan Alikozai said.
According to some economists, the decrease in corruption and the implementation of customs regulations are the reasons for the rise in domestic income.
“The total national GDP income has dropped, yet they claim that income has grown by more than 80%. Given that coal exports account for almost half of our total exports, it appears to be the main product,” said Azerakhsh Hafizi, an economist.
Over seven months last year, Afghanistan earned 33 billion Afghanis from customs.
The Ministry of Finance said that the majority of this ministry’s revenue comes from customs.
