, exiting a few days before the country's government essentially broke down.
He said he submitted his resignation, but didn't hear from President Ashraf Ghani for three days, so he packed his bags and left. Ghani on August 15The country's economy grew from 2001 to 2012 at an average rate of about 10% each year, Payenda said. But that growth came to a screeching halt, basically dropping to zero for the last few years, he said. The World Bank said the country's economy"Right now, the situation looks really, really bad," Payenda said.
In the last few weeks, Afghanistan's currency has slipped in value, falling about 10% versus theUS dollar. In the week after the Taliban took control, it slipped from about 79 afghanis per dollar to 86 afghanis per dollar. "But it's because most of these banks and money providers are closed," Payenda said. "Maybe it will shoot up to 200 per dollar in a week or two."After the Taliban took control of the country, they installed their own finance minister, Gul Agha Ishakzai,Ishakzai formerly led the Taliban's financial commission, according to the UN, which added him in 2010 to the list of people and groups who could face economic sanctions.
About half of the country's federal budget comes from outside aid organizations and foreign governments. As the Taliban took over, the World Bank