DAB Shared its Six-Month Achievements of FY 1402 to the Public through Press Conference

27 December 2023- DAB organized a press conference pertaining to the dissemination of its first six-month achievements for FY 1402. These achievements were prepared as a summary report which compares the data and statistics of the first six-months of 1400 and 1401 with that of 1402, highlighting the improvements in all the indicators.

At the outset, Acting Governor of Da Afghanistan Bnk, Mr. Hedayatullah “Badri” in his opening remarks extended his gratitude to the media for their active participation and cooperation in disseminating accurate information to the public during the last two years. He added that the existing data in the report on the effective execution of the monetary policies and banking sector shown considerable improvement, which will be communicated with the media and through them to the public.

Mr. Badri termed, appreciation of Afghani against other currencies, reducing inflation to desirable level, improvement in the performance of the banking sector, promotion of Islamic banking, development of payment and information technology systems, printing new Afghani banknotes and injecting in the market for collecting and incinerating old banknotes, as the key achievements of Da Afghanistan Bank.

At the other part of this conference, Director General of Monetary Policy Department, Mr. Ahmad Jawad “Sedad” provided insights on the approaches of Afghani appreciation against other currencies, highlighted that Afghani appreciated by 9.74 percent against other foreign currencies in the first six-months of 1402 compared to the same period of the previous year. “Fortunately, Afghani is more stable compared to the currencies of many regional countries and other stakeholders of Afghanistan, he said”. He also explained that the latest data from two days ago shows considerable increase as the Afghani appreciated by 19.3 percent against USD.

During the conference, Director General of Non-banking Financial Supervision Department, Mr. Ahamad Zahir “Nasirzai” provided insights on the situation of non-banking financial sector, termed mechanization of activities of Foreign Exchange Dealers (FXDs) and Money Services Providers (MSPs) important for the improvement of this sector.

Mr. Nasirzai added that the decision to corporatize FXDs and MSPs is made for the improvement and accountability of this sector, imposing new terms and conditions and suggesting changes in their legal frameworks. According to this decision, all the individual licenses revoked, and so far, 1076 corporate licenses have been issued in the country. Also, the said corporate license holder companies have established around 389 branched throughout the country. Hereinafter, FXDs and MSPs will perform their activities as non-banking financial institutions, subject to having electronic system and complying with the national and international standards.

As a final remark, Deputy Director of Banking Supervision Department, Mr. Ihsanullah “Mansoor” provided insights on the stability and soundness of the banking sector. He added that DAB management held numerous technical meetings with internal and external stakeholders for the strengthening of the banking sector; negotiated effectively for lifting the limitations and providing necessary facilities to the people; issued effective circular letters to the banks; and frequently conducted supervisions of the performance of the banking sector, led to gradual decrease of the limitations on the deposits.

It is worth mentioning that it is not the end, and DAB strives to revive the situation of the banks and transform the banking sector of the country as the successful sector compatible with the international best practices.