Washington [US], November 3 (ANI): Afghanistan registered a merchandise trade surplus of USD 79 million with Pakistan, from July 2021 to June 2022, according to the latest report by the US monitoring agency.
During this time frame, total exports to Pakistan from Afghanistan were worth USD 796.4 million, compared to USD 717 million in Pakistani exports to Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan registered a merchandise trade surplus of USD 79 million with neighboring Pakistan, one of Afghanistan’s largest trading partners, from July 2021 to June 2022, according to the most recent trade data collected by the World Bank,” said Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
According to the SIGAR report, Afghan exports are driven by mineral fuel, oils, and products, including the recent surge in coal exports. Other Afghan export items are textile and food items such as fruits and vegetables. Afghanistan’s main imports from Pakistan are food products, followed by pharmaceutical products and wood.
Afghanistan is exporting about 10,000 tons of coal a day to Pakistan, the report said citing a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum.
The SIGAR report said that coal is transported by hundreds of trucks daily across three dedicated border crossings into Pakistan, and both sides are reportedly planning to add more space for additional trucks and open customs facilities for additional operational hours per day, instead of the current 12 hours.
On September 27, the Taliban announced they had signed a provisional deal with Russia to import one million tons of gasoline, one million tons of diesel, 500,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas, and two million tons wheat to Afghanistan annually.
A Taliban official states that the arrangement will run for an unspecified trial period, after which both sides are expected to sign a longer-term deal if they are content with the arrangement. This is the Taliban’s first known major international economic deal since they seized power.
A Taliban official said they seek to diversify the country’s trading partners and that Russia had offered them a discount to average global commodity prices.
Earlier this quarter, a Taliban delegation traveled to Russia to discuss a barter arrangement trading Russian crude oil products for Afghan produce.
Nuriddin Azizi, the Taliban’s minister of industry and trade, told Russian state media in August that “since Russia is a friendly country to us, we have come to reach an agreement on the import of Russian oil and oil products.” (ANI)
