Afghanistan's Acting Minister of Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, indicated that a delegation from the Taliban discussed the facilitation of international financial transactions with private banks during a recent visit to Kazakhstan, in an effort to alleviate the isolation of the Afghan banking sector. In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Azizi mentioned that in addition to banking services, they also discussed the potential implementation of preferential trade tariffs and projects in the areas of telecommunications and transit routes, including possible shipments of Russian oil to South Asia.
He confirmed, "We had teams from the Afghan central bank and private banks in Kazakhstan with us, discussing and (still trying to find) good ways to reduce the cost of financial transactions. We have no banking restrictions with Kazakhstan." Azizi stated that reforming the banking sector in Afghanistan is a priority, emphasizing that there are no direct sanctions on banks. He noted that international financial institutions do not facilitate transactions. He added, "Some banks prefer not to conduct transactions with Afghanistan."
The banking sector in Afghanistan has been facing obstacles, and international transactions have sharply declined since the Taliban took control two years ago with the withdrawal of foreign forces.
