Share:KABUL - Afghanistan’s finance ministry under the Taliban government has prepared a draft national budget that, for the first time in two decades, is funded without foreign aid, a spokesman said. It comes as the country is mired in economic crisis and faces a looming humanitarian catastrophe that the United Nations has called an “avalanche of hunger”. Global donors suspended financial aid when the Taliban seized power in August and Western powers also froze access to billions of dollars in assets held abroad. In the meanwhile, the Taliban made a fresh appeal on Friday for Afghanistan’s seat at the United Nations after the ambassador of the former US-backed government left his post. Assistant UN spokesman Farhan Haq told AFP that Afghan ambassador Ghulam Isaczai “relinquished his position as of December 15”, according to a letter they received Thursday.

Source: The Nation December 18, 2021 09:24 UTC