KABUL - Five years after his leadership in the National Unity Government, President Ashraf Ghani this week admitted that 90 percent of the country’s population is living below the poverty line, having less than $2 daily income. Analysts say this indicates a catastrophic situation in the country.
“This nation, despite 90 percent of the population being under the two dollar-a-day poverty line, has the spirit of an able nation,” Ghani said on Saturday as he announced a new relief package for needy families struggling with the COVID-19 crisis. The food distribution plan announced by Ghani costs $244 million, the highest relief fund in the country so far.
Political analysts see these figures as evidence of the president's failure to alleviate poverty despite billions of foreign aid.
“It is a regret that the president of Afghanistan is confessing that his people are living below the poverty line,” said Shahzada Massoud, a former presidential adviser.
“The poverty and calamity that are facing a group of Afghans are the consequences of illegitimate governance, political corruption and the consequences of false slogans by those who do not have trust in the collective destiny and who are gambling the security and political lives of the people of Afghanistan for their own interests,” said Asif Ashna, an analyst.
“Our president is primarily responsible, and then his insufficient ministers who have been working as acting ministers for years,” said Attaullah Mohammadi, an MP.  (TOLO NEWS)