Afghanistan - Public finance

The fiscal year ends 20 March. Budget breakdowns have not been available since 1979/80, when revenues totaled Af15,788 million and expenditures Af16,782 million. In 2002, the Interim and Transitional governing authorities were working with donor aid agencies to finance the rebuilding of Afghanistan's infrastructure and society. The Interim Administration was supported by the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, UNDP, and the World Bank. An Implementation Group was established to operate an "Operational Costs Trust Fund" for Afghanistan, to be effective when the UNDP "Start-up Fund" ceased, to cover expenditures normally financed by domestic revenue. The Operational Costs Trust Fund will cease to operate when the situation in Afghanistan would approach fiscal normality, estimated by 2006, when the government would be able to finance most or all of its own costs.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimates that in 2000 Afghanistan's external debt totaled $5.5 billion.