Dollar equals 130 in Afghan currency: Muttaqi

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi has said the US dollar rate is 130 in the local currency and trade increased by $1.9b since the Taliban takeover.

Speaking at a seminar, Muttaqi said it was for the first time that his country had made its budget without foreign aid. On non-recognition of the Taliban rule by Pakistan, he said he had visited Pakistan on a formal invitation. “However, the question should be asked from the Pakistani government. The whole world recognises Taliban’s Afghanistan,” he claimed.

He said women education was neither un-Islamic nor banned in Afghanistan. “It has been suspended temporarily. Women are also going to Madrassas. Over 10m male and female students go to educational institutes in Afghanistan,” he claimed. “Our economy is also under pressure, like the rest of the world. Despite international sanctions, our imports and exports have reached $6.8 billion,” the interim minister added.