According to Balkh Customs officials on Monday, revenues based on import fees have declined by 20 percent from 2012, a steep drop they attributed to the decrease in imports of fuel materials.
Earlier this month, government officials said there would be an effort to raise fuel imports from Russia this winter to stabilize market prices in anticipation of increased demand as Afghans look to heat their homes and businesses. But based on the Balkh Customs' report, it would seem those efforts have not yet come to fruition.
Balkh is a northern province boarding three different nations – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
The Hairatan Port collected a total of four billion AFG in the last 10 months, but this amount is only half of the amount the Ministry of Finance (MoF) estimated heading into that period.
In the past, one of Afghan customs' biggest problems when it comes to revenues is corruption. Much of the money that would otherwise go into an office's earnings instead by its way into the pockets of
The head of Balkh's Customs office, Abdul Satar Sarhal, admitted to the presence of graft in his office, but maintained that it had been reduced and was not the main cause behind the declining revenues.
"We can't deny the existence of extorted fees, but such illegalities have decreased in comparison to past years and we are trying to eliminate them and request that people cooperate with us on this issue," Sarhal said.
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