Security concerns will remain paramount in 2010-11, but foreign governments will want at least to announce plans for troop cuts. The incumbent, Hamid Karzai, won the presidential election in August 2009, but his victory is being disputed amid allegations of electoral fraud; nevertheless, it is all but certain that he will serve out another five-year term. A parliamentary election in 2010 is unlikely to alter substantially the balance of power. The illegal output of opium will fall, but Afghanistan will remain the world's biggest producer of the drug. There will be only incremental improvements in tax collection and therefore Afghanistan will remain dependent on its donors. Relations with Pakistan and Iran will be volatile; instability in Pakistan will present extra security and trade risks for Afghanistan. Continued strong growth in construction and a boom in agriculture will drive economic expansion in fiscal year 2009/10 (March 21st-March 20th), but drought may pose a threat to farming output in 2010/11. |
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| Key Reports Available for Afghanistan |
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| Land area | | 652,100 sq km (World Bank, World Development Indicators Database) | | Population | | 24.5m in 2006 (Asian Development Bank, Key Indicators of Developing Asia and Pacific Countries) | | Main towns | | Kabul: 2,536,300 (Central Statistics Office, 2006) | | Kandahar: 450,300 (Central Statistics Office, 2006) | | Heart: 349,000 (Central Statistics Office, 2006) | | Climate | | Continental (extremes of temperature) | | Weather in Kabul (altitude 1,815 metres) | | Hottest month, July, 16-33°C (average daily minimum and maximum); coldest month, January, minus 8-2°C; driest month, September, 1 mm average monthly rainfall; wettest month, April, 102 mm average rainfall | | Main languages | | Pashtu and Dari (Persian) | | Measures | | Metric system. Local measures include: | | 1 gazi jerib = 0.7366 metre | | 1 jerib = 0.195 ha | | 1 charak = 1.7665 kg | | 1 seer = 9.066 kg | | Currency | | Average exchange rate in fiscal year 2007/08 (March 21st-March 20th): Af49.8:US$1 (preliminary IMF estimate) | | Time | | 4.5 hours ahead of GMT | | Fiscal year | | March 21st-March 20th | | Public holidays | | January 19th (Ashura); February 15th (Liberation Day); March 20th (Roze-Maulud, Birth of the Prophet Mohammed); March 21st (Navruz—New Year’s Day, Iranian calendar); April 18th (Liberation Day); April 28th (Victory Day); May 1st (Labour Day); August 19th (National Day); October 1st-2nd (Eid al-Fitr—end of Ramadan); December 8th-9th (Eid al-Adha, Feast of Sacrifice) | | SOURCE: Country Profile |
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