Since 2001 donors have provided more than $52bn to Afghanistan. Barack Obama, the US president, has requested $12.8bn for the 2012 financial year alone, to equip and train Afghan forces.
Then there is declared money – about $4.6bn – which passed through Kabul's airport in suitcases last year, mostly to Dubai. The real figure could be much higher as Afghanistan has been the centre of a $68bn global opiate trade.
Afghanistan's central bank has now capped money leaving the country at $20,000, anything higher requires a bank transfer. |