Afghan acting Finance Minister Muttaqui downplays economic crisis

Kabul, July 9 (IANS) Afghanistan acting Foreign Affairs Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi has downplayed the reports on the economic crisis, saying the economy of the country has been moving on the right track, state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported on Sunday.

According to the state-controlled media outlet, Muttaqi made the remarks in a meeting with elders and ranking officials who returned home from Saudi Arabia after performing Hajj rituals, Xinhua news agency reported.

The war-torn country has been facing poverty and economic hardships since the withdrawal of foreign forces and the induction of the caretaker government nearly two years ago as the US froze more than 9 billion dollars of assets of Afghanistan's central bank.

Financial support to the country has drastically dropped and the banking system has been derailed due to US-imposed sanctions, which eventually worsened the economic situation of the already bankrupt nation.

More than 28 million or two-thirds of country's population, according to aid agencies' reports, have been suffering from food insecurity.

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