Exchange houses reopened on Monday in Afghanistan, following a day of strike action to protest the sharp rise in the cost of their professional license imposed by the Taliban, the organization representing them reported.
Thousands of exchange houses in Kabul and several cities in the country were closed on Sunday to protest over the new conditions set by the Central Bank of Afghanistan for obtaining these licenses.
Those exchanges opened on Monday, following Sunday’s meeting with senior Taliban officials, Afghan Currency Exchange Commission spokesman Abdul Rahman Zeerak told AFP.
“They asked us to reopen the markets and (promise) to solve our problems completely,” he said.
A new meeting with the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance is scheduled for Tuesday to define the modalities of the agreement, he said.
Zeerak explained to the APF on Sunday that the Central Bank is asking exchange houses to pay 5 million Afghanistan (56,300 dollars, or 54,000 euros) for the right to exercise, compared to 300,000 Afghanistan in the past.
It also calls for them to have at least 50 million Afghans to make the trade work.
The Central Bank justified this measure, in a statement, under the need to guarantee “transparency” in the sector.
After the Taliban returned to power in August, its economy declined in Afghanistan and the rise in unemployment, due to the severe liquidity crisis caused by the freezing of funds abroad, especially in the United States.
Afghan banks were closed for several weeks, and exchange houses played a vital role in limiting instability by responding to the financial needs of millions of people.
ahs-jd-cyb / mba / mis / mar
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