The increasing circulation of worn-out banknotes in Kabul’s markets is causing significant problems for residents, sparking disputes between buyers and sellers.
Some Kabul residents say the rise in damaged banknotes, especially smaller denominations like 10 to 100 afghanis, has made everyday transactions difficult. Vendors often struggle to accept these notes, leading to frequent arguments with customers.
The Taliban-controlled central bank has urged citizens to switch to digital transactions using FP cards to prevent further deterioration of the country’s paper currency.
A daily struggle for vendors
Mohammad Ali, who has been running a small shop in Kabul for years, says dealing with worn-out notes has made his work increasingly challenging. He explained that transactions involving old banknotes often lead to disagreements with customers.
“We have about 5,000 to 5,500 afghanis in worn-out notes. When customers come to buy goods and we give them old money, they don’t accept it,” he said. “The problem is there’s no new money in circulation, and people aren’t satisfied with old, unusable banknotes.”
Many residents blame the Taliban-led central bank for neglecting the issue. They argue that the bank has failed to replace old banknotes with new ones, leaving citizens to deal with daily frustrations in markets.
Kabul resident Nawroz Ali Amiri described his dissatisfaction with the current situation:
“Unfortunately, in Afghanistan, when we hold money in our hands, we don’t feel its value. It feels like we’re holding a worthless piece of paper. People face countless challenges because no one accepts these torn or damaged notes,” he said.
Another Kabul resident echoed these concerns, calling on the interim Taliban government to act urgently:
“The reality is that these banknotes are a huge problem. We demand that the government collect the damaged and old notes and solve this issue as soon as possible. These worn-out notes are a daily hurdle—no one values or accepts them in the market.”
Central Bank’s limited response
The Taliban-controlled central bank announced earlier this month that it had destroyed over 840 million afghanis in worn-out banknotes to facilitate smoother transactions. However, the bank has yet to clarify whether new banknotes will replace the destroyed currency.
In November 2022, Shah Mohammad Mehrabi, a member of the central bank’s Supreme Council based in the United States, revealed that 390 million banknotes—worth 10 billion afghanis—had been printed by the French company Oberthur Fiduciaire. Despite this, no new banknotes have been distributed in the local markets, leaving residents to grapple with an increasingly cash-strapped economy.
