KABUL: Afghanistan will delay paying salaries to hundreds of thousands of civil servants next month because it does not have enough money, a finance ministry official said yesterday.
The acknowledgment that it is now impossible to pay October salaries on time highlights the huge challenges facing new leader Asraf Ghani, who is to be sworn in as president of the violence-torn country tomorrow after months of turmoil following a disputed election result.
Afghanistan’s fiscal crisis is the most immediate problem facing Ghani and coalition partner Abdullah Abdullah. Afghanistan’s treasury now holds less than the 6.5bn Afghanis ($116m) needed to begin processing monthly salaries, said Alhaj Mohammad Aqa, director-general of treasury in the ministry. He would not say exactly how much money the government had in its coffers, only that it was not enough to meet the payroll.
Reuters
