Afghanistan financial market is going through a transition phase due to the fact that the entire country is under a reconstruction stage.
The economy of Afghanistan has been recovering after the war. Afghanistan is a poor country. However, it holds a significant amount of natural resources and minerals. So it does have the potential to convert its economy into a steady state. The economy of Afghanistan is dependent on agriculture to a considerable extent.
The national economy of Afghanistan has undergone a significant improvement after the year 2002. This resulted because of the influx of billions of United States dollar in the form of international aid.
The agricultural production in Afghanistan has also gone up. Afghanistan is a country, which relies on foreign aids to a significant extent. The foreign aids come from various sources, for example, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A significant portion of Afghanistan's revenue is generated from the export of opium, fruits, nuts, wheat, woolen and cotton goods, carpets, and valuable stones.
The Asian Development Bank is playing a significant role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. It is providing large volumes of grant in order to facilitate the growth of Afghanistan financial market and the private sector of Afghanistan.
The Kabul Stock Exchange or KBLSE is also known as the Kabul International Stock Exchange. The operations of Kabul Stock Exchange have not started yet. It would be regulating the first liquid exchange of Afghanistan. It would offer a comprehensive variety of capital market products and services. This international stock exchange will combine foreign currency exchanges and cash equity exchanges.
It would be dealing in the following operations:
- Listing of securities
- Buying and selling of cash equities
- Interest rate and equity derivatives
- Buying and selling of bonds
- Supply of market data to various investors in Afghanistan
The leading financial service providers in Afghanistan include the following:
- Afghanistan International Bank
- Azizi Bank
- First Micro Finance Bank
- Standard Chartered Bank
- Kabul Bank