Afghanistan

Money & costs

Costs

Afghanistan is by turn both an incredibly cheap and very expensive country to travel in. While the daily costs of eating, drinking and travelling by local transport are relatively low, the cost of accommodation can be high, and travelling by private vehicle very expensive. The large influx of foreign workers with large expense accounts and an economy reliant on imported goods has produced a two-tier system, where dual pricing for locals and foreigners is not uncommon. Payment in US dollars is almost as universally accepted as payment in afghanis.

Roughly speaking, if you opt for the simplest hotels, eat only in local restaurants and at street food stands (and avoid imported groceries, which are available in most towns), and travel only using local transport; you can get by on around 1000Afg to 1200Afg per day.

If you’ve been roughing it and need a night in a comfier bed, or a break from an endless diet of kebabs and rice, a single room at a midrange hotel ranges from 1500Afg to 3000Afg per night. Many places charge a flat rate for the room, so sharing a double can cut costs considerably. Kabul is the most expensive place in the country, and a midrange room can cost up to 4000Afg. Top end hotels – almost all of these are in the capital – cost upwards of this, to around 6000Afg. The recent boom in hotel building in Kabul means that many top end places frequently offer generous discounts, which can bring their rates down to the midrange, so don’t be shy about asking. Discounted rates are frequently available for long-term occupancy.

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Money

Afghanistan’s currency is the afghani (Afg). Paper notes come in denominations of one, two, five, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000. One, two and five afghani coins are slowly replacing the grubbiest small notes. When the afghani was relaunched in 2002 to encourage economic stability, there were around 10, 000Afg to the US dollar; since then the currency has consistently floated at around 45Afg to 50Afg to the dollar.

Afghanistan’s war-shattered banking system has been slowly rebuilding itself, but the distinction between the formal and black economy remains vague in many places. Despite government attempts at regulation, the country effectively operates a two-currency system – US dollars are an accepted form of payment for many goods and services (including hotels). For smaller sums, including public transport and local restaurants, payment in afghanis is usually demanded. In some places, payment may even be accepted in currencies from neighbouring countries – Pakistani rupees in Jalalabad and Kandahar for instance.

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ATMs

Automatic teller machines (ATMs) have slowly been introduced in Kabul, operated either by Afghanistan International Bank (AIB) or Standard Chartered. These accept MasterCard and Visa, but not always all cards (technically the machines are also wired for Cirrus and Maestro, but we didn’t have much luck on this front). Check with your bank before departing that your card can access international banking networks. The ATMs give either afghanis or dollars according to the machine, and tend to have set working hours. While very useful, they shouldn’t be relied on as your sole source of cash if possible. At the time of research, the only ATM outside Kabul was at Bagram Airbase.

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Cash

We prefer not to recommend that travellers carry large amounts of cash with them, but in Afghanistan this is largely unavoidable. This is a country where cash – or rather the US dollar – is king. There are a few precautions to minimise the risk of losing your stash to misadventure.

It’s unwise to carry wads of money in your wallet, and you’re similarly more prone to being robbed if you carry valuables in a shoulder bag, which can easily be snatched. Keep a small amount of money for the day in a handy but concealed place (eg in an inner pocket), and the bulk of your resources more deeply hidden. A well-concealed money belt is one of the safest ways of carrying your money as well as important documents such as your passport. It’s also a good idea to have emergency cash (say US$100 in small bills) stashed away from your main hoard, as a backup.

One alternative to carrying large sums of money with you on the road (and away from Kabul’s ATMs) is fast international money transfer by Western Union. These are found in almost every Afghan town, and often in branches of Kabul Bank in the cities. Fees are paid by the person wiring the funds, not by the person collecting.

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Changing money

It’s far easier to change money on the street than in a bank, and in our experience some tellers will actually advise you to do just the same. Only Kabul Bank seems to consistently change money, but in a country where much of the economy operates outside the banking system, almost everyone uses moneychangers.

Moneychangers tend to operate on the street, with small stands rather than formal shops. The main moneychanging areas are listed in the text – look out for men holding thick wedges of afghanis and clutches of US$100 bills. Afghan moneychangers are a pretty honest bunch as a whole, but always take your time to count out the bills, and don’t hand over your money until you’ve done so. Insist on smaller denominations if you’re handed everything in 1000Afg notes.

If you’re not happy to change money standing on the street, doing it from a taxi is an acceptable practice. Alternatively, most hotels and many shops (particularly those dealing with imported goods, or carpet shops) are usually willing to change money. When bringing currency to Afghanistan get new dollar bills; higher denominations are preferred. Euros and sterling can be easily changed in the cities, but other currencies can be problematic. Currencies from neighbouring countries are freely exchangeable, but you get better rates closer to the relevant border – eg Iranian rials in Herat, or Tajik somani in Kunduz.

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Credit cards

Flashing your plastic is currently of limited use in Afghanistan, and then only really in the capital. Only the most upmarket Kabul hotels accept payment by credit card. Most Kabul airline offices and travel agents will take them (plus a few enterprising carpet shops), but as a general rule banks won’t give cash advances on credit cards.

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Travellers cheques

Most banks in Afghanistan will look at travellers cheques with some curiosity before pushing them back over the counter for you to take elsewhere. A few lucky (and pushy) people have managed to change travellers cheques at the main branch of Da Afghanistan Bank in Kabul, with punishing commission rates, but this is the exception rather than the norm.

This said, it can sometimes be possible to cash travellers cheques with moneychangers. The moneychangers bazaar in Kabul is the best place to try, but you might also have luck at the congregations of changers in Herat and Mazar-e Sharif. Their stalls might be lo-tech, but mobile phones put them in instant contact with the international currency markets. A little persistence, and a willingness to pay commission might work wonders – we’ve even heard of moneychangers cashing cheques drawn on travellers’ personal bank accounts.

If you do try bringing travellers cheque, always carry the purchase receipts and a note of the serial numbers in a separate place from the cheques.

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