by Asma Saayin in ToloNews, Feb 8, 2023 at 9:49 PM
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan issued a statement forbidding the smuggling of currency, gold and precious stones into or out of the country. Bringing currency from other regional countries into Afghanistan is not allowed.
According to the statement, no one has the right to transport across the border more than $5,000 in cash by air and more than $500 by land.
“The money, gold, and valuables that they are gained from them would be held or seized according to the decision of the Prime Minister,” said Bilal Karimi, the deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate.
Meanwhile, some economists praised this decree of the current government and emphasizd that more efforts should be made to prevent the smuggling of dollars out of the country.
“I think it’s one of the biggest positives since Afghanistan’s economy is mostly affected by a lack of capital,” said Sayed Masoud, an economist.
“One of the important solutions to preserving monetary capital against foreign currencies, especially the dollar, is to prevent the smuggling of dollars abroad, which raises the value of the Afghani currency against other currencies and, on the other hand, prevents the lack or decrease of dollars in the Afghan markets,” said Mir Shikaib Mir, another economist.
The Union of Money Exchangers of Sarai Shahzada rejected Pakistan’s recent claim of smuggling dollars to Afghanistan.
“The Pakistani government and businesses claim that billions of dollars are being trafficked into Afghanistan from Pakistan. We totally deny this claim, and this issue is the opposite, the money is being smuggled out of Afghanistan into the neighboring nations, especially to Pakistan,” said Abduh Rahman Zirak, the spokesperson of the Union.
According to the statement posted on Mujahid’s Twitter account, the punishment is one year in prison for the transfer across the border of one million dollars, one month for the transfer of $100,000 dollars, and ten days for less than $100,000 (or equivalent).
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-181969
