Links to the State Department’s website for background on the country’s political environment.

  • After posting robust economic growth between 2005 and 2013, Afghanistan’s growth averaged only 2.3% annually from 2014-2018.  With a 3% annual population growth, the economy is not growing fast enough to increase living standards. More than 55% of the population now lives below the poverty line. 

  • Afghanistan continues to have a small formal financial services sector where domestic credit remains tight.  A significant amount of trade financing flows through informal, lightly regulated Hawalas (money service providers and foreign exchange dealers) rather than through banks.  Fewer than one in ten Afghans holds a bank account.

  • Various estimates place the value of the informal economy to be at least $4.1 billion, based in part on illicit activities such as opium, illegal mining, and smuggling.

  • Several upcoming events have the potential to significantly impact political conditions inside Afghanistan, including presidential elections planned for September 2019 and ongoing efforts by the United States to facilitate a peace agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

For additional background information on the political and economic environment of Slovakia, please click on the following link: https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/afghanistan/.

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