The Taliban moved to increase Afghanistan’s coal prices after Pakistan’s prime minister announced plans to import coal from Afghanistan using local currency to save foreign reserves.
Coal prices in Afghanistan were raised from $90 per tonne to $200 per tonne last week as the Taliban seeks to generate revenue from its mining sector amid a lack of direct foreign funding.
The Taliban announced the move just hours after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the import of coal from Afghanistan using rupees as opposed to dollars to save foreign reserves.
Sharif made the decision against the backdrop of rising coal prices in the international market. He said importing coal from Afghanistan could help Pakistan save more than $2.2 billion annually on the import bill….