The Afghanistan central government needs a bailout of $537 million in the next "five to six days" so it can meet its payroll and is asking the United States and other international sources for help.
According to the Washington Post, the Afghan government has burned through its reserve funds for the year, blaming it partly on the ongoing stalemate between who will replace outgoing president Hamid Karzai.
Officials reported the government barely made payment to its 500,000 employees in September but those payments won't happen in October without some assistance.
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"We hope they will pay for us, and we are asking at once," said Alhaj M. Aqa, the director general of the treasury at the Afghan's finance ministry. "They are asking me when I need it, and I told them this week or we will have a problem."
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul confirmed to
United Press International that it is in talks with Afghan officials about a possible solution to its financial situation.
"(We're) working to find ways to help the new government meet some of its challenges and priorities using resources already allocated," U.S. embassy officials said in a statement to UPI.
About 65 percent of the Afghan government's $7.6 billion operating budget is funded through international help.
John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, told
Fox News that infrastructure problems in the country will be nearly impossible for the Afghans to repair, maintain and afford going forward, possibly creating major problems in the future.
"We have predicted for a while that we have spent too much money, too fast and built an infrastructure that the Afghans cannot afford," said Sopko.
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