Afghan ofcial says the government has

nearly run out of money, needs U.S.

bailout
By Tim Craig September 1 at 11!"# A$
KABUL Afghanistans central government is nearly broke
and needs a $537 million bailot from the United !tates and other international
donors "ithin #five or si$ days% to contine &aying its bills' a senior Afghan finance
official said (esday)
*ri&&led by a gro"ing bdget shortfall' the Afghan government has s&ent hndreds of
millions of dollars of easily accessible reserve fnds this year' said Alha+ ,) A-a' the
director general of the treasry at the ,inistry of .inance)
(he government "as barely able to cover its !e&tember &ayroll for more than 5//'///
national and &rovincial em&loyees' he added) And "ith its 0ctober &ayroll deadlines
a&&roaching' A-a said the contrys financial challenges are no" #critical)%
0fficials blame the financial "oes on the ongoing stalemate over "ho "on the election
to re&lace otgoing 1resident 2amid Kar3ai)
4e ho&e they "ill &ay for s' and "e are asking at once'% A-a said of ongoing
discssions "ith the U)!) government and other international donors) #(hey are asking
me "hen 5 need it' and 5 told them this "eek or "e "ill have a &roblem)%
5f additional money is not allocated' A-a said' the government "ill have to begin
deferring &ayment of bills for items ranging from fel for government vehicles to
official stationery)
(he fiscal crisis cold also ham&er the governments ability to feed more than 35/'///
Afghan soldiers and &olice' A-a said) !alaries for &olice and army &ersonnel are not at
risk becase they are &aid "ith fnds that come directly from the U)!)6led coalition)
A senior U)!) 7mbassy official in Kabl ackno"ledged ongoing discssions bet"een
Afghan and American officials over ho" to resolve the im&ending crisis) 5n a
statement' the embassy said it is #"orking to find "ays to hel& the ne" government
meet some of its challenges and &riorities sing resorces already allocated)%
(hogh U)!) officials stressed they do not envision the bdget &roblems "ill re-ire a
ne" a&&ro&riation from *ongress' any additional assistance cold &rom&t fresh
scrtiny over ftre American s&ending in the contry)
An official "ith the 4orld Bank said the organi3ation "as also #&art of the discssion%
bt declined frther comment) (he Afghan governments re-est for additional fnds
"old hel& it &ay its bills ntil the end of the bdget year in 8ecember' A-a said)
Afghanistan has an annal o&erating bdget of abot $7)9 billion' abot 95 &ercent of
"hich comes from international assistance) (he crrent fiscal crnch is a reslt of a :5
&ercent shortfall in Afghanistans domestic revene collection from ta$es and cstoms
tariffs this year' A-a said)
2e said the ga& "as created by the contrys nearly yearlong &residential contest'
"hich has redced foreign investment and made Afghans skittish abot s&ending
money)
%&'( )*A+,&C
(he 4ashington 1ost;s <ichard =ohnson begins his forth +orney to Afghanistan this
"eek) .ollo" his "ork as a visal +ornalist dra"ing "ar)
5n A&ril' eight candidates com&eted in an election to re&lace Kar3ai) Bt no candidate
received more than 5/ &ercent of the vote' forcing a =ne rnoff bet"een former
finance minister Ashraf >hani and former foreign secretary Abdllah Abdllah)
Amid allegations of "ides&read frad' the otcome of that contest is in dobt becase
of disagreements bet"een >hani and Abdllah over the &ossible formation of a nity
government)
Ahmad !hekib ,ostaghni' director of commnications for the ,inistry of .oreign
Affairs' said officials are o&timistic that international assistance "ill be forthcoming)
2e noted that >hani and Abdllah have signaled in recent days they are close to
striking a deal on a ne" government) ,ostaghni said international donors have been
hesitant to commit additional fnds ntil the election is resolved)
Becase of the concern of the international commnity' some of the financial
assistance &romised has been delayed' bt "e are "orking very hard'% ,ostaghni said)
#7veryone kno"s the isses and &roblems of the election has had many negative
im&acts' and all officials in the government are concerned abot these fiscal
&roblems)%
According to the 4orld Bank' Afghanistan "ill need more than $7 billion annally for
the ne$t decade to sstain a fnctional government' maintain infrastrctre and fnd
the Afghan army and &olice)
!ince the fall of the (aliban in ://?' the U)!) government has a&&ro&riated $?/@
billion rebilding and s&&orting the Afghan government' military and &blic services'
according to the 0ffice of the 5ns&ector >eneral for Afghan <econstrction)
Abot $?9 billion of it remains ns&ent' and the United !tates is e$&ected to
a&&ro&riate an additional $5 billion to $A billion &er year for at least a decade' =ohn .)
!o&ko' the ins&ector general' said in a s&eech last "eek at >eorgeto"n University)
(he bottom lineB 5t a&&ears "eve created a government that the Afghans sim&ly
cannot afford'% !o&ko said)
Bt A-a said hes o&timistic the fiscal crisis "ont stretch into ne$t year becase' he
said' la"makers "ill read+st s&ending &riorities before the com&letion of ne$t years
bdget)
4e "ill manage it' if "e receive $537 million'% A-a said) #Ce$t year' "e "ill not have
any &roblem becase "e make a bdget based on or estimation of domestic revene
and donor fnding) (his only affects this year)%
Tim Craig is The +ost-s bureau chief in +a.istan. ,e has also
covered con/icts in &ra0, Afghanistan and 1ithin the 2istrict of Columbia
government.
1osted by (havam