As of 2024, there is a neighboring country of India with a stronger currency than the Indian Rupee. The country in non-other than Afghanistan. According to the data, 1 INR is equal to 0.8062 AFN. Not only India, but Afghani is a stronger currency against the currencies of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Iran as well.
As per wise.com, “The performance of INR to AFN in the last 30 days saw a 30 day high of 0.8109 and a 30-day low of 0.7820. This means the 30-day average was 0.7987. The change for INR to AFN was 3.02. The performance of INR to AFN in the last 90 days saw a 90 day high of 0.8446 and a 90-day low of 0.7820. This means the 90-day average was 0.8153. The change for INR to AFN was -4.12.”
How did afghani take over Indian rupee?
Afghanistan is considered a war-torn country with a weak economy meanwhile India is considered as a rising power, but then the currency of Afghanistan is stronger than the Indian rupees. In September 2023, one afghani was worth more than one Indian rupee for the first ever time in history. On 4th September 2023, 1 Indian Rupee was equal to 0.89 Afghani.
The Afghan currency became stronger because of the negotiations between the US and the Taliban. The US Treasury Department had announced to transfer 3.5 billion dollars of the country’s national reserves to an Afghan Fund which was established in Switzerland in order to ensure economic stability in Afghanistan. This further strengthened Afghanistan’s currency.
The US knew that the Taliban can’t fix Afghanistan alone, and the Taliban needs US support for global recognition. Additionally, humanitarian aid has also helped by keeping dollars in the market. These factors have made the Afghan currency more stable.
Abdul Rahman Zirak, a spokesman for the union of money exchangers said, “We want the Central Bank to deliver dollars repeatedly to the market, which has its benefit on the value of the Afghani currency.”
The Afghani has become stronger also because of Afghanistan’s income from trade, mining, and economic policies whereas the Indian Rupee has become weaker due to problems like high prices and trade issues.
Afghanistan’s income due to mining activities in iron ore, marble, copper, gold, zinc, and rare-earth minerals has boosted the currency. Iron is the one of the most valuable metals of Afghanistan. Its total iron ore reserve is approximately around 2.2 billion metric tonnes which has placed it in the list of top 10 countries in extractable iron.
A spokesman for the Central Bank of Afghanistan, Hassibullah Noori said, “The start of the national and international projects in the country, prevention of smuggling of foreign currency and increase of exports has been effective in the stability of the Afghan currency.”
An economist, Seyar Qureshi said, “The decrease of dollar value and stability of Afghani has had a positive impact on the reduction of prices of commodities being imported.”