Several public employees say their salaries have been reduced following months of delayed payments, as the Taliban-led administration faces a growing budget shortfall and continues to shrink the public workforce.
Two civil servants from separate ministries confirmed to Amu TV that their salaries had been cut in recent weeks. One said their monthly wage dropped from 23,000 to 17,000 Afghanis, while another reported a decrease from 20,000 to 10,000 Afghanis. A third employee, however, noted that their salary had been paid in full, though it was delayed by over two months.
The Taliban-run Finance Ministry has not publicly commented, but an official from the ministry told Amu that the Taliban are grappling with significant budget constraints. Taliban have so far issued no formal statement on the delays or the reductions.
The pay cuts come after an earlier report by Amu citing a source in Kandahar, who said that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada recently issued a directive calling for the reduction of both public sector staff and civil servant salaries as part of a broader cost-cutting effort.
Many public employees say they have only received their salary for the month of Hamal (March–April) and continue to face financial uncertainty. “The delays are constant, and now the salaries are being cut too,” one employee said. “Some of us are considering resigning altogether.”
Human rights activist Rahel Talash criticized the Taliban’s moves as part of a systematic effort to consolidate power. “They are eliminating staff they no longer need because they’ve already trained and installed their own people,” she told Amu.
The impact is also being felt in the private sector. Two teachers at private schools said their monthly pay—once as high as 15,000 Afghanis—has been slashed to between 3,000 and 5,000 Afghanis. Female teachers and school administrators have been hit especially hard, according to those sources.
In parallel, a source familiar with Taliban-run military education institutions confirmed that staff at military universities and training centers have also seen their salaries reduced by 1,000 to 1,500 Afghanis. In addition, daily food stipends for these employees have been halved, from 4,000 to 2,000 Afghanis.
Despite repeated reports of delays and salary cuts, Taliban officials have issued no formal comment. However, in a previous appearance on Taliban-run national television, a spokesperson confirmed the administration had begun reducing the size of public institutions and the number of military personnel.
