KABUL (voa) – The International Monetary Fund says Afghanistan’s new government may have to adopt the U.S. dollar as a temporary currency before a new version of its own currency, the afghani, can be introduced.
IMF Assistant Director Warren Coats says the interim government must soon make decisions about how to proceed while a new currency is developed and released. He says it may take two to three years to open a new Central Bank and reintroduce a new afghani nationwide.
Currency dealers in Kabul’s fabled money markets are quoted as saying warlords and forgers are creating financial havoc by circulating their own afghanis. Additionally, the French News Agency says large quantities of newly-printed afghani notes have arrived in the capital since the interim government took office last month.
For its part, the new government denies issuing any currency since taking power December 22.
The IMF assessment comes as its delegates and World Bank officials conduct meetings in Kabul with Afghan economic experts on budget preparation, tax collection, banking supervision and accounting procedures.
