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Isolation shields Afghanistan from financial crisis
Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:37pm EST
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By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Devastated by nearly three decades of war, Afghanistan's isolation from world trade and global finance might for once be to its advantage, shielding the country from the economic and financial meltdown abroad.
Sandwiched between Kabul's main mosque and a foul-smelling river is the teeming money market where traders, holding aloft fist-fulls of U.S. dollars, euros, Pakistani rupees and afghanis, shout out their prices above the melee.
The afghani, Afghanistan's currency, has barely skipped a beat and property prices in the capital and other major cities are still rising steadily despite hundreds of Taliban suicide bombings and an insurgency spreading from the south and east.
"(The recession) has not affected Afghanistan because we have no dealings with Asia, Europe or anywhere else," said Amin Jan Khosti, the head of the market.
While other currencies rise and fall, the afghani has remained steady at around 52 to the dollar, the same as when the credit crunch began to bite last year.
That is partly due to the United States' backing of Afghan Central Bank intervention which has kept the currency stable and protected the country's economy from being buffeted by the financial turmoil, economists said.
The biggest risk for Afghanistan is that the foreign governments that pump billions of dollars in annual aid might need to cut back as they fund multi-billion dollar stimulus plans for their own economies in the wake of the economic crisis.
Experts say that Afghanistan has little to worry about, though, as its importance to the West is possibly greater than ever as the focus of the "war on terror" moves from Iraq to its territory, making aid cuts unlikely especially as such cuts might weaken the Afghan economy and strengthen the Taliban.
"The U.S. is deeply engaged here politically, militarily and economically. There are growing security problems and political instability to some extent, so America does not want to have or see another headache and it is keen to keep the economy stable," said Sayed Masood, an economics professor at Kabul University.
U.S. President Barack Obama has called Afghanistan his top foreign policy priority and has vowed to focus on development projects in addition to expanding the NATO military presence as insurgent violence has increased to its highest levels since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.
The September 11, 2001 attacks were hatched in Afghanistan by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and top commanders who are believed to be hiding somewhere along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
PROPERTY BOOM
While most Afghans live in grinding poverty, with little running water, proper sewerage and sanitation, it is clear from the gaudy mansions springing up in the wealthier parts of the capital that some people are getting rich.
"In Afghanistan, many people do not know a lot about the world's economic crisis involving housing. The property business has become a major trade here," said Kabul University's Masood.
"There is not much infrastructure or good security, so those who have money and live here invest in property," he said. Continued...
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