Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)


The Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan is responsible for the implementation and execution of the budget, collection of taxes, organization, and control of public expenses in Afghanistan; it also controls the management of the Custom Affairs. The Ministry of Finance provides a quarterly report to inform the public of advancements in Afghanistan's financial sector.

History

The importance of taxes was first given a significant role under the rule of Ahmad Shah Baba. “In 1140, a number of governmental departments and offices were established, including the Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan, which was named Humayon Alla.” The first minister was Abdullah Khan Popalzai. His successor Mustafawi Almalik improved the national economic system and monitoring of financial accounting in Afghanistan. Under king Habibullah Khan the tax base was small and the majority of Afghans did not accept the system in place. After achieving independence and reform of administrative military organization, the new Ministry of Finance was established. “Later, in 1965 the financial systems were developed and officially introduced in Afghanistan.” According to the requirements and needs of Afghan financial system the ministry of Finance has following structure: Ministry, Deputy Administrative, Financial Deputy, Deputy Revenue and Customs, and Deputy Policy. The Ministry of Finance has 12 departments and each department has certain responsibilities to lead and manage.

Responsibilities

International donors financially support the main portion of the Afghan governmental budget. As the Ministry of Finance is responsible for public finance and budget expenses throughout the country, it encourages international donors to provide direct budget aid in order to strengthen the position and credibility of the Ministry of Finance. According to the Afghanistan National Development Strategy the target sectors in 1390 were the security sector, the education sector and the governance sector. The goal of the strategy is reduce poverty, accelerate economic growth and improve security and governance. In 1391, budget AFS 18,838 million was allocated to security sector, for Education sector 5.533 million and for governance sector 2,531 million were allocated.
The total development budget for fiscal year 1390 was Afs 74 billion - which is equal to US$1.4 billion - and it increased to Afs 101.2 billion equal to US$1.9 billion in 1391 Whereas in 1391 the total development grants reached to 14.2 billion which increased by 49.5 percent throughout the year. The Ministry of Finance tries to adjust its financial systems and financial activities according to international rules and regulations. In order to accomplish these targets, the Ministry of Finance created new units, which include staff enrollment parts, policy design, and budget execution. The main goal of Ministry of Finance is control the financial affairs of the country in order to have an economically more powerful country and make sure that public wealth is improved.

Ministers

Abdullah Malikyar1960under King Mohammed Zahir Shah
Sayed Qassem RishtyaJuly 1964 - October 1965under King Mohammed Zahir Shah
Abdullah YaftaliNovember 1965 - 1967under King Mohammed Zahir Shah
Mohammad Aman1969 - 1971under King Mohammed Zahir Shah
Fazal Haq Khaliqyar1971 - 1972under President Mohammed Daoud Khan
Sayyid Abdullah? - 1978under President Mohammed Daoud Khan
Abdul Vakil1980 - 1984
Mohammad KabirJuly 1984 - ?
Abdul Hadi ArghandiwalJuly 1996 – September 1996
Hedayat ArsalaDecember 2001 - June 2002under President Hamid Karzai
Ashraf GhaniJune 2002 - December 2004under President Hamid Karzai
Anwar ul-Haq AhadyDecember 2004 - February 2009under President Hamid Karzai
Omar ZakhilwalFebruary 2009 – February 2015under President Hamid Karzai
Eklil Ahmad HakimiFebruary 2015 – March 2018under President Ashraf Ghani
Mohammad QayoumiApril 2018 – Presentunder President Ashraf Ghani