Aidiladha is coming, but Afghan civil servants still waiting on delayed salary while debts mount
KABUL, June 5 — Aysha Safi Abdul Saboor usually treats his children to new clothes for the Eid al-Adha holiday but like many Afghan public sector workers, he is scraping by this year awaiting a delayed salary.
The Taliban government has faced recurring difficulties paying civil servants since returning to power in 2021, leaving families grappling with financial uncertainty in one of the world's poorest countries.
'We bought only cookies and dried fruits for Eid,' said Saboor, which he said would be shared with visiting friends.
One of the biggest holidays in the Muslim calendar, Eid al-Adha — which begins on Saturday — is celebrated with the sacrifice of an animal shared among family, neighbours and the needy to honour Ibhrahim's, or Abraham's, willingness to sacrifice his son, before God offered a sheep instead.
The 45-year-old, who works for the Parwan provincial government's rural development department, was relieved to cash in two months' salary last week, but he put the money directly into paying off debts to shops he'd been relying on for credit.
'We couldn't go to some shopkeepers, we were embarrassed,' he told AFP.
Afghanistan has faced major economic challenges since 2021 and is experiencing one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations.
'Delays in the payment of wages and salaries point to persistent liquidity constraints and broader challenges in ensuring timely government expenditures,' the World Bank said in an April report.
Despite signs of recovery, the economic outlook remains 'uncertain', the Bank said, with 'growing fiscal pressures', a widening trade deficit and entrenched poverty.
Public sector workers faced a similar struggle in March, receiving some delayed pay ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Afghan labourers unload watermelons from a truck at a market in the Fayzabad district of Badakhshan province on June 2, 2025. — AFP pic
'Make ends meet'
The finance ministry said this week it was in the process of paying all civil servants two months' worth of unpaid salaries, without explaining the delay or saying if future wages would be paid on time.
Since the start of June, 'almost all of the departments have received their salaries' for two months, spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal told AFP on Tuesday.
The Taliban government has not made its recent budgets public — but experts say security spending has been prioritised at the expense of other departments.
On Wednesday morning, a central Kabul bank was packed with government employees shouting for their turn to collect salaries before the Eid holiday.
In Kandahar city, government-paid workers also lined up to collect their money, some voicing only gratitude for getting paid.
Hayatullah, a 21-year-old teacher in the Taliban heartland province, said he only received one-month's salary.
'We will try to make ends meet,' he said, refusing to give his full name for fear of reprisal. 'But we can't afford the Eid expenses.'
Taliban government employees wait to receive their salaries as they gather outside the New Kabul Bank in Kandahar on June 2, 2025. — AFP pic
'Children's expectations'
Last year, the government slashed salaries of women staff who were forced to stay home since the Taliban seized power and prevented them from working in mixed offices.
Jobs have been cut from other departments in recent months, though government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in April said reducing staff was a 'normal' process aimed at improving efficiency.
Mohammad, who works for a government office in Ghor and did not want to give his real name for fear of reprisal, said he had already spent his salary paying back loans to shopkeepers and had nothing left for Eid celebrations.
'We received the salaries for two months very late and we have faced a lot of problems during this period,' he said.
'Eid is coming and when there is no money, it is really worrying — there are the children's expectations, family's expectations and Eid day expenses,' said the 40-year-old who is the only breadwinner for 10 people.
'My family has to wait.' — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
10 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Sources: Explosive-laden car kills 13 Pakistani soldiers near Afghan border in deadly convoy attack
DERA ISMAIL KHAN (Pakistan), June 28 — An explosive-laden car rammed into a Pakistani military convoy today in a town near the Afghan border, killing at least 13 soldiers, sources said. Four Pakistani intelligence officials and a senior local administrator told Reuters that the convoy was attacked in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan district. Around 10 other soldiers were wounded, some critically, and they were being airlifted to a military hospital, the sources said. 'It was huge, a big bang,' said the local administrator, adding that residents of the town could see a large amount of smoke billowing from the scene from a great distance. One resident said that the explosion rattled the windowpanes of nearby houses, and caused some roofs to collapse. No one has so far claimed responsibility. The Pakistani military did not respond to a Reuters request for a comment. The lawless district which sits next to Afghanistan has long served as a safe haven for different Islamist militant groups, who operate on both sides of the border. Islamabad says the militants run training camps in Afghanistan to launch attacks inside Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies, saying the militancy is Pakistan's domestic issue. Pakistani Taliban also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of several Islamist militant groups, has long been waging a war against Pakistan in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with its own Islamic system of governance. The Pakistani military, which has launched several offensives against the militants, has mostly been their prime target. — Reuters
The Sun
10 hours ago
- The Sun
Suicide attack kills 16 soldiers in Pakistan's North Waziristan
PESHAWAR (Pakistan): A suicide attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban killed 16 soldiers and wounded more than two dozen people, including civilians, local government officials and police officers told AFP. 'A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy,' said a local government official in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media. He said 16 soldiers were killed, raising a previous death toll of 13. 'The explosion also caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children,' a police officer posted in the district told AFP. The attack was claimed by the suicide bomber wing of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, a faction of the Pakistan Taliban. Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbour of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan -- a claim the Taliban denies. Around 290 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
Free Malaysia Today
16 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Expediting reforms will make tax hikes easier to swallow, govt told
World Bank's lead economist for Malaysia, Apurva Sanghi, said reducing spending would not be easy as most of it involved 'rigid' costs such as wages, pensions and debt service. PETALING JAYA : The World Bank's lead economist for Malaysia, Apurva Sanghi, says expediting reforms – such as enacting a government procurement law – will make the public less hostile towards tax hikes. In a post on X on the expansion of the sales and service tax, Apurva pointed out that the auditor-general regularly uncovered losses in public funds, irregular payments and wastages across various ministries. While some reforms have been carried out, a specific law to oversee government procurement has been delayed, he said. Apurva said reforms would build public trust, which in turn would make it 'easier to swallow bitter tax hikes'. 'Tax hikes are painful but people can bear them, if they're meaningful. 'This means faster progress, especially on governance reforms and that would increase trust.' Apurva said trust was the ultimate currency for any government. On comparisons made between the SST and the goods and services tax, Apurva said that while both were regressive, it could be made progressive via targeted cash transfers and exemptions. 'The current SST expansion does include progressive elements.' On June 9, the finance ministry announced that a 5% to 10% rate would be imposed on non-essential goods from July 1, although basic necessities would not be taxed. The announcement has triggered brickbats. Apurva also responded to those questioning the government's decision to raise taxes instead of reducing spending. He said while it was a fair question, the country needed to spend more, which meant it needed to raise more revenue. The finance ministry previously said that the SST collection is expected to increase by RM5 billion in 2025 and by RM10 billion in 2026, following the expansion of its scope. Apurva noted that both revenue and spending had dropped by 30% since 2012, which was well below those of global peers. 'Spending needs are only growing, especially as Malaysia ages,' he said, adding that reducing spending would not be easy as most of it involved 'rigid' costs such as wages, pensions and debt service which accounted for 57% of operation expenditure.
