The Ministry of Finance said that in the past fifteen months more than one million tons of humanitarian aid worth 164 billion Afghanis has arrived in Afghanistan.
This aid, according to the ministry’s spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal, included food, clothing, and other items. “Over 1 million tons of food and non-food items from these organizations entered Afghanistan; this amounted to 41,000 shipments with a customs value of 164 billion Afghanis. All these goods went through the customs process and entered Afghanistan without any customs taxes,” Haqmal said.
According to figures from the Ministry of Finance, more than 41,000 packages of humanitarian relief entered the nation between August 2021 and January 2023, of which 23.3 billion Afghanis in customs taxes were exempted. Meanwhile, some economists believe that foreign assistance is crucial to preventing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
“Even humanitarian aid has been distributed to Afghans in the form of cash, and it has not been able to improve the economic situation in Afghanistan, and we are witnessing increasing poverty in Afghanistan,” said Mir Shekaib Mir, an economist. Some residents of Kabul said that the aid of the international community should be distributed transparently to poor people.
“In 15 months, they have paid us one or two times, and that was to help us for only one month and they have not paid after that,” said Khuda Bakhsh, a resident of Kabul.
“They provided us with 4100 or 4300 once, or they provided us with flour, and it was sufficient for our one month. It will be helpful if they assist us,” said Adil, another resident of Kabul.
