The economy on the brink, Taliban rely on former technocrats

By SAMYA KULLAB
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban is turning to the financial managers of the former government for help steering the nation’s battered economy away from the brink. Do your jobs, the Taliban told the experts, because we can’t. Officials from the Finance Ministry and the banks went back to work, advising the Taliban. Still, they see little way out of the economic quagmire. International aid has stopped, trade is hobbled, and the government is struggling to bring in basic supplies. The United Nations predicts 95% of the population will go hungry and about the same will sink into poverty.