The Afghan Minister of Economy announces a strategy to reduce dependence on foreign aid

Fitrat said: "Our economic strategy is to gradually transform Afghanistan from a country whose economy depends on foreign aid to a stable and self-sufficient country, dependent on local production, trade, investment and sustainable internal revenues." He pointed out that active efforts are being made in the mining, energy, agriculture, industry, transportation and railway sectors to achieve this goal.

These statements come at a time when World Bank reports indicate that Afghanistan’s gross domestic product will grow by a rate ranging between 2.5% and 3.4% during the fiscal years 2024 and 2025, despite the decrease in foreign aid and the freezing of the country’s assets abroad. This growth is attributed to increased domestic revenues, the stability of the Afghan currency, higher tax revenues, export growth, and mining sector activity.

The Afghan Ministry of Economy had confirmed in previous statements that the country's economy no longer depends on foreign aid, indicating that the Islamic Emirate is determined to move forward towards self-sufficiency by exploiting national capabilities in a precise and thoughtful manner. The Ministry also recently called on the international community to divert aid from emergency relief to sustainable development programs that create job opportunities and promote self-sufficiency.

Despite this, Afghanistan faces major challenges, including lack of international recognition of its government, restrictions on its access to the global financial system, lack of significant investments and weak infrastructure, in addition to an unemployment crisis exceeding 13%. A United Nations Development Program report indicated that about three-quarters of the Afghan people, or about 28 million people, cannot secure their basic needs.

The Afghan Ministry of Economy stated that the country seeks to reduce dependence on foreign aid by strengthening internal sectors, increasing local production and creating job opportunities, stressing that it has “specific programs” to achieve these goals. The government focused on the mining, energy, agriculture, industry and transportation sectors as key pillars of this strategy.