Govt Lost $125m Aid Over Financial Strategy Failure

The government has lost $125m in World Bank aid due to its failure to implement certain standards and financial strategies in the custom sectors, the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) said on Wednesday said.

According to SAO, the World Bank had recommended that Afghan government implement standards and financial strategies in the custom sectors aimed at providing better services. In response to the commitment, the World Bank would have committed some money in incentives to Afghan government.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has said that Afghanistan still has enough time to deliver on its commitment to the recommendations offered by the World Bank until end of 2018.

“In 2016 an amount of $224 million had been allocated for at least ten benchmarks, but the institutions managed to implement only five and the money came to the government treasury,” said Sayed Mohammad Mahdi Hussaini, professional deputy of the Supreme Audit Office.

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Britain Pledges £750m In Aid To Afghanistan

The UK will commit £750m ($980 million USD) to help improve health, education and security in Afghanistan, under a major new funding announcement.

The money, welcomed by aid agencies on Saturday, is to be spent over three years and will have a particular focus on helping women and girls in the war-ravaged country.

Writing exclusively in The Independent, International Development Secretary Priti Patel said the boost would not only reduce misery and suffering in the world, but also serve Britain’s interests by stabilising the country and reducing the need for people to make perilous long-journeys to the UK.

This comes shortly after Theresa May travelled to the United Nations and the G20 to assure the world the UK would not turn in on itself following the Brexit Vote, but also to urge leaders to do more to tackle mass-migration.

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