Afghanistan registered trade surplus with Pakistan: report

Afghanistan registered a trade surplus of $79 million with Pakistan, one of its largest trading partners, from July 2021 to June 2022, according to the latest report by an official US monitoring agency, known as SIGAR. The report — prepared for the US Congress by the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) — noted that Afghanistan’s currency, the Afghani, appreciated by 11.6 per cent against the Pakistani rupee. The agency noted that despite economic and political troubles, the Afghan currency remained relatively steady this quarter, appreciating by 6.1pc against the euro and 0.2pc against the Indian rupee as well. Data issued by Afghanistan’s central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), however, showed that between the end of June and mid-September, the Afghani depreciated 0.6pc against the US dollar and 1.9pc against the Chinese yuan. Quoting from the most recent trade data collected by the World Bank, SIGAR reported that Afghanistan’s main imports from Pakistan this year remained food items, followed by pharmaceutical products and wood. But rising oil prices in the international market, tilted bilateral trade in Afghanistan’s favour as Pakistanis looked for alternative fuel sources.