The Taliban government in Afghanistan has sharply reduced spending on development while prioritizing military, security and administrative costs, according to United Nations and local investigations.
Official figures show that 88 percent of the current budget has been allocated to non-development expenditures leaving only a small share for public welfare and infrastructure.
The country’s development budget has fallen by 82 percent compared to previous years, dropping from 131 billion Afghanis to just 24 billion Afghanis.
As a result, development projects worth 60 billion Afghanis have effectively been suspended. These projects were linked to key sectors such as education, health and basic infrastructure.
According to leaked Taliban documents, the General Directorate of Budget has been involved in financial mismanagement worth 4.1 billion Afghanis.
Most of this money was spent on the salaries and benefits of fighters which now make up around 65 percent of the total budget.
These revelations have raised serious questions about the priorities of the Taliban administration at a time when Afghanistan is facing deep economic and humanitarian challenges.
The documents further reveal that billions of Afghanis are being spent every year on the security and administrative expenses of the Taliban leadership, particularly on the protection of supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Government data shows that more than 2.3 billion Afghanis per year are being spent on the security of the Taliban leadership alone even as funding for public services continues to shrink.
The sharp cut in development spending has directly affected essential sectors. In education, more than 3,800 school construction and rehabilitation projects have been suspended.
In the health sector, the construction of new hospitals in 28 districts has come to a halt. Meanwhile, major infrastructure projects have also been pushed into uncertainty including the construction of 1,200 kilometers of roads and eight hydropower projects.
The figures underline how the Taliban’s budget priorities are shifting away from public welfare toward security and internal control, leaving critical social and economic development projects stalled across Afghanistan.
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