Afghanistan's fragile currency, the Afghani, has plunged 10 percent in a week as fears of a US strike against the war-torn country loom large, money changers said Wednesday.
They said customers have flooded the market with thick wads of Afghanis, fearful that a US military strike could further destabilize the local currency.
The ruling Taliban militia's recent ban on the cultivation of opium poppies -- a major source of income in Afghanistan, the world's largest opium producer -- had also destabilized the Afghani.
Money changers said a dollar could now fetch 68,000 Afghanis, compared to 62,000 a week ago.
"The issue of military strikes has a big role in this. America's support seems vital for any country's economic stability nowadays," said Haji Amin Khosti, chief of Kabul's main Shahzada money market.
"There are warnings from every side of a hit against Afghanistan. The American threats have had a great effect in this depreciation," said another dealer, asking not to be named.
Afghanistan is home to Osama bin Laden, an indicted terrorist in the United States who is also a suspect in the bomb attack on a US warship in Yemen last month.
Washington launched cruise missiles at suspected terrorist training camps run by Saudi-born bin Laden in Afghanistan two years ago, in retaliation for the twin US embassy bombings in East Africa which killed more than 200 people.
So far US officials have not blamed bin Laden directly, but their stated intention of hitting back at those responsible for Yemen attack has created a sense of alarm throughout Afghanistan.
Traders also said Taliban Supreme Leader Mulla Mohammad Omar seemed serious about implementing the poppy ban, which would deny the Afghani of one of its chief sources of demand.
"If opium cultivation is banned, the Afghani will keep falling more," money trader Haji Farid said at Shahzadah market, which plays the role a central bank in the country's undeveloped economy.
"The opium money was a big support for the Afghani."
Pino Arlacchi, who heads the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, last week said Afghan narcotics traffickers had suffered a sharp drop in profits to around 90-100 million dollars this year due to falling prices.
Afghan drug traffickers netted some 230 million dollars last year, say officials.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
