Turkmenistan and Tajikistan willing to support Afghanistan�s socio-economic development

Turkmen and Tajik leaders have expressed willingness to assist Afghanistan’s social-economic development. Turkmen President Gubanguly Berdimuhamedov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon agreed to intensify cooperation in resolving regional issues, in particular, by making joint actions to assist...

DAB and HARAKAT team up to improve access to finance in Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) and Harakat- Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility Organization signed an agreement on the implementation of the Shariah Compliant Project. The Shariah Compliant Project is aimed at tackling problems of the Islamic Banking, which is seen...

Work on asphalting of Silk Road begins

Asphalting of the remaining seven-kilometer portion of the Silk Road has kicked off. About 180km of the road from Bamyan and Kabul has already been asphalted with financial collaboration from Italy; however, the remaining 7km could not be constructed due to the cultural master plan. Costing USD...

Hole in Afghan budget to have negative impact on development projects

Afghan Ministry of Finance has expressed concerns at the USD 375mn hole in the government budget for this year. The shortfall is likely to threaten public projects and civil servants’ salaries, putting the war-torn country in a deep stress as it awaits a new leader and foreign troops are preparing...

Ariana Afghan Airlines moving towards self-sufficiency: Hakimi

Ariana Afghan Airlines officials claim to have been moving towards self-sufficiency despite having faced millions of dollars in losses in the past two years. Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Ariana Afghan Airlines Chief, Nasir Ahmad Hakimi, said the company has witnessed a 16% increase in...

Afghanistan�s economy to pick up pace in 2015 and 2016

According to a latest report by the World Bank, Afghanistan’s economic growth would rise to around 5% in 2015 and 2016. The recovery would highly depend on the country’s security situation after the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. Sensitive political situation accompanied...

Gas price up, flour down in Kabul

The price of flour decreased and of liquefied gas jumped in Kabul during the outgoing week that saw rates of other essential commodities staying stable, market sources said on Thursday. A 50-kg bag of Pakistani flour cost 1400  AFN against its last week’s rate of 1450 AFN, said Fazl Rahman,...

Flour price goes up, gold goes down in Kabul

The price of flour edged up while gold went down and other daily-use items remained steady in Kabul during the outgoing week, market sources said on Thursday. Food Traders’ Union head, Fazal Rahman, said the price of a 50-kilogram Pakistani flour bag jumped from 1,440 to 1,450  AFN. The...

Eurozone sees �dramatic improvement� in its economic recovery

Addressing the final day of the World Economic Forum, Head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, said Eurozone had witnessed “dramatic improvement” in its economic recovery over the past two years. He said risks had declined considerably across the board both for core Eurozone...

Three development projects completed in Baghlan province

Three sub-projects of the National Solidarity Program of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (NSP/MRRD) were recently completed in Baghlan province and handed over to the communities. According to the concerned Provincial Manager of NSP, these development projects included the construction...

Etihad in final talks over �next stage� of Air Berlin partnership

Etihad Airways’ chief executive said on Monday that the airline was close to sealing the next phase of its partnership with Air Berlin and that it was still in due diligence over a possible tie-up with Alitalia. “All our objectives have been met and we are in the final stages of negotiating...