Pakistani currency baed in Kandahar’s Spin Boldak town

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Central bank officials in southe Afghanistan say they are trying to ban the Pakistani currency from being used in domestic transactions and to encourage people towards using the Afghan currency notes.

Currently the Pakistani rupee, known in Afghanistan as “Kaldar” is nearly used in the whole of the southe zone encompassing Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul provinces.

Economic experts say in business deals and other use of the Pakistani rupee within the country have affected the value of the afghani.

Da Afghanistan Bank (central bank) officials admit the rupee is used in nearly all the southe provinces, but they also say they have launched efforts at reducing reliance on the foreign currency and the initiative has been started from Spin Boldak border town, one of the three main border crossings between the two countries.

The town is located 110 kilometres east of Kandahar City, the provincial capital, and thousands of people daily cross the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the bulk of Afghanistan’s imports and exports take place through this border crossing.

The use of the afghani has lately become rare in Spin Boldak where all deals happen in the Pakistani currency.

In this regard, central bank official in the south, Mohammad Naeem Akbari, said they had informed all residents of the Spin Boldak district, traders and shopkeepers to stop further use of the Pakistani currency.

He said the afghani was their national identity and they should respect their identity and shun reliance on a foreign currency.

The central bank’s branch in Spin Boldak through a letter has asked the residents to use the afghani rather than the rupee in every small and big deals.

The letter says “deals in the Pakistani currency are absolutely baed and after 10 days, the violators will be fined and no one will have the right to complain.”

Kandahar residents and central bank officials welcomed the move, but they were doubtful about its full implementation.

The residents said they have been asking the govement to ban transactions in foreign currencies as the issue has become old and has created serious problems.

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