KABUL - A number of traders and moneychangers could be referred to the Attorney General Office (AGO) for their involvement in smuggling dollars out of the country, using fake documents, a senior official said on Monday.

In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Da Afghanistan Bank Governor Noorullah Delawari linked the afghani's constant depreciation in recent months to the unlawful capital flight from the country.

"There are mostly external factors, including the US sanctions against Iran, the resultant pressure on the riyal and the illicit currency outflows from Afghanistan, behind the fall in the afghani's value," he explained.

On Monday, one US dollar traded at 53.10 afghanis in the Kabul money market, where 1,000 Pakistani rupees accounted for 553afs. Last week, the dollar shot up to 56.90 afs and 1,000 rupees to 570afs, fuelling concerns among entrepreneurs.

With the local currency in a free fall, Delawari said they had constituted eight teams of auditors to investigate government and private banks. The teams found that forged documents were used to take $3 billion out of Afghanistan.

Dilawari said some Afghan businessmen and moneychangers were involved in forging the documents, he said, without naming the banks from which the papers were recovers.

"For example, the documents show that goods -- intended for transportation from China to Pakistan -- arrived in Afghanistan. This is fraud." He added the documents were being investigated and the forgers would be referred soon to the AGO. (Pajhwok)