After the Taliban seized power over Afghanistan, they banned the US dollar across the country along with other foreign currencies. Notably, a new piece of legislation imposes restrictions only for banknotes use.
"The Islamic Emirate instructs all citizens, shopkeepers, traders, businessmen and the general public to henceforth conduct all transactions in Afghanis (the local currency) and strictly refrain from using foreign currency," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement posted on Twitter. According to Mujahid, anyone violating this law will face legal action.
While the Taliban government is persecuting the Afghans for using the US currency, they are trying to accumulate USD as much as possible. Earlier in August, they prohibited the export of US dollars from the country. The currency was in serious deficit after the US forces left the region. The US had stopped cash imports in Afghanistan the day before the capital of the country surrendered amid fears that the funds would be received by the new government. Washington froze about $9 billion of Afghanistan central bank’s assets including $1.3 billion in gold deposited at the New York Fed. The new Afghan government might have obtained only a little part of government funds in Kabul estimated at $360 million in cash and 2 tons of gold if the assets were not looted by the fleeing authorities.
