Pakistan to use national currency for bilateral trade with Afghanistan — Shaukat Tarin

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's finance minister Shaukat Tarin said on Thursday his country would carry out bilateral trade with Afghanistan in Pakistani currency since the neighboring state was facing an acute shortage of US dollars since the withdrawal of international forces last month.
According to the local media, Tarin was briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and told its members that the administration in Islamabad was closely monitoring the situation in Kabul.
Economic experts and foreign currency traders in Pakistan had told Arab News earlier this month that Afghanistan's recent situation had put Pakistan's currency under pressure, adding that nearly $2 million were daily flowing out of their country to Afghanistan where the demand for US dollars had significantly increased.
"Tarin told the Senate committee that the government had decided to trade with Afghanistan in Pakistani currency, instead of dollars," Geo News reported. "He maintained that Afghanistan was facing shortage of dollars as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had seized its reserves after the Taliban's takeover of the country."
The minister said "people could be sent from Pakistan to run various affairs in Afghanistan."
The Taliban have found it increasingly difficult to manage the affairs of the state after bringing Afghanistan under their military and political control.
Last month, the group asked former government functionaries not to "panic or try to go into hiding," saying they were required to run Afghanistan after the departure of foreign forces and nationals.