Afghanistan
Afghanistan
The National Accounts department of the Central Statistics Office in Kabul, Afghanistan is responsible for maintaining the national accounts statistics for Afghanistan. The following tables have been prepared by the Central Statistics Office in Kabul, Afghanistan in reply to the United Nations national accounts questionnaire.
The land-locked countries (Afghanistan, Laos and Nepal)
Three countries of the ECAFE region which are setting out to advance their economic development after centuries of isolation and seclusion are Afghanistan, Laos and Nepal. Their isolation and its consequences for their development are partly due to the fact that they are all entirely land-locked (that is, they have no direct access to the sea). They have, therefore, along with their distinctive individual features, a number of problems in common which invite analysis.
Afghanistan
During the year 1954/55 the economy of Afghanistan showed signs of improvement. The crop was better than average and brought about a slight decline in agricultural prices. Government tax receipts increased through improved administration, without however changes in tax rates or introduction of new taxation. The exports of the country improved sharply and the foreign-exchange reserves of the Central Bank (Da Afghanistan Bank) accumulated at a rapid rate. The rising export earnings and developing economic activity were reflected in a sharp rise in the supply of money while the cost of living remained stable. The commercial activities of government enterprises increased and some credit institutions and commercial corporations were established. The year 1955/56 offered the same favourable outlook till the end of the first quarter when the dispute with Pakistan resulted in the closing of the Afghan-Pakistan border. A transit agreement was concluded with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the second quarter of 1955/56 to alleviate the economic difficulties thus created. The 1955/56 crop appeared not unfavourable in spite of the relative lack of snow during the winter of 1954/55.
Afghanistan
Owing to reduced volume of consumer imports accompanied by an unfavourable cereal harvest, some increase occurred in Afghanistan’s general price level between May and October 1955. Transit trade through Pakistan remained sluggish to the end of 1955/56, except for temporary recovery during the period November 1955 to February 1956. By utilizing the northern transit route and air transport to Bahrein, Beirut and India, the country made every effort to retain its traditional export markets and to import essential consumer and capital goods. The value of exports and imports during 1955/56 expressed in Afghanis was higher than that reached in 1954/55. With a rapid inflow toward the end of 1955, the shortage of consumer imports experienced earlier was somewhat eased in the first quarter of 1956, and substantially so in the second and third quarters. During 1956/57, and particularly with the adoption of the Five-Year Plan for 1956/57 to 1960/61, developmental activities in the country took an upward trend. The Government negotiated external loans and grants on a substantial scale to provide for foreign exchange and technical assistance needed for implementing the Plan.