Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines announced Tuesday that locally manufactured goods will soon be sold at a 25 percent discount, a measure the chamber says is aimed at supporting both domestic industry and a population grappling with economic hardship.
Shirbaz Kaminzada, the head of the chamber, made the announcement at the opening of the fourth National and International Industry Week exhibition in Kabul. Speaking at the event, he said Afghanistan’s manufacturing sector has seen “notable growth” in recent months despite widespread economic challenges.
The exhibition, organized under the Taliban-run Ministry of Industry and Commerce, opened Tuesday. The chamber officials said it is part of an initiative to promote economic self-sufficiency in a country still reeling from years of conflict, sanctions, and aid cuts.
The discount program comes as international organizations continue to report a steep decline in purchasing power among Afghan households since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Across the country, many families say they are unable to afford even basic goods as poverty deepens and job opportunities remain scarce.
Several Kabul residents interviewed at the exhibition said they welcomed the price cuts but noted that discounted goods offer only limited relief in the face of structural economic collapse.
“We can barely afford one meal a day,” said one man. “Prices are high, and jobs are almost nonexistent.”
Many citizens have also voiced concern about hiring practices under the Taliban administration, alleging that employment in public institutions and industry is increasingly reserved for political loyalists rather than distributed on the basis of merit.
Still, Taliban insist that the industrial sector is expanding. Mohammad Naeem, Taliban deputy minister of finance and administration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recently said that 38 industrial zones and more than 6,000 factories are currently operating across the country.
He claimed that these facilities have created “direct and indirect employment for millions,” though those figures have not been independently verified.
