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Under Taliban, money-changers never had it so good

The good times rolled for the money-changers of Kandahar under Afghanistan's Taliban rulers.

But since the overthrow of the fundamentalists late last year, it has been downhill all the way for the southern city's money men -- and it's getting worse.

"It was our best time in my 20 years as a banker," said Gul Ahmad, a turbanned trader in downtown Kandahar's busy Shapak Bazaar. "Whatever you say about the Taliban, they brought stability and didn't interfere in business."

Huge piles of banknotes are stacked up on makeshift tables, the money-changers squatting on the muddy, fly-blown sidewalk, or sitting in tiny kiosks along the shopfront. But the impression of simplicity and general decay is grossly misleading.

"There are about 100 money dealers in this street, serving import-export businesses trading with Japan, the Gulf and Europe," said another trader, Abdul Salaam. "Commerce is the foundation stone of Kandahar, and we Kandaharis have a reputation for a straight deal and for keeping our word."

Ahmad agreed. "In good times, we money changers collectively handle the equivalent of about (Pakistani) Rs 5 billion a day. That's about $83 million dollars."

But things have changed since Northern Alliance forces, allied with the United States and its B-52 bombers, toppled the Taliban for protecting Saudi-born militant Osama in Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the United States.

"Now business is down 90 per cent," Ahmad said.

People were hoarding their cash, holding back on investment and new trading ventures.

Abdul Salaam said businessmen were waiting to see what monetary policy the interim government would adopt. Would it devalue, or scrap the existing currency altogether?

Both traders agreed the most important factor was insecurity -- a combination of uncertainty about the future, and a nagging sense of physical danger.

"Business hates insecurity. If there are bandits on the roads, levying illegal taxes, we suffer. If we suffer, everyone else does too," Saleem said. Law and order were essential.

"Traders need safe roads to the capital Kabul, north to Herat and south to Chaman on the Pakistan border. If the routes aren't safe, business won't flourish," he said.

The local currency, the afghani, had hardened with the fall of the Taliban.

Under the Taliban, a Pakistani rupee bought afghanis 1,200. Now, under the Western-backed interim government led by Hamid Karzai, one rupee would buy some afghanis 475.

Both dealers said wild fluctuations in the national currency did not bode well for the future.

The exchange rate swung from afghanis 300 to 500 to the rupee on a daily and even hourly basis, and that was worrying. Ahmad said Afghans were quite capable of creating a vibrant economy with a little foreign assistance to help revive the battered infrastructure.

"Leave us to build the economy. We can do it ourselves. All we need is peace and security."

There is an official curfew in the city, from 2100 to 0600 (local time).

The streets are patrolled by forces controlled by the city's new chief, former governor Gul Agha, in the form of pickup trucks flying the red, green and black national flag and packed with gunmen wearing NATO-style camouflage uniforms.

Rusty T-55 tanks stand guard at the approaches to the city, and white-capped traffic policemen in shabby brown uniforms blow their whistles at traffic clogging city intersections shrouded in fumes from motorised rickshaws.

But the population at large is well-armed after more than 20 years of war, and ancient tribal and ethnic loyalties along with a general scramble for lucrative jobs in the new administration make for a combustible atmosphere.

Down the money changers' street, an automotive spare parts trader is feeling the pinch.

"My customers aren't doing new deals," said Mohibullah. "They are holding onto their afghanis. They want to buy cheaply and sell dear, and they don't know what the future will bring.

"None of us do.

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