SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Fitch Solutions has forecast a collapse in the Afghan economy and cut its real gross domestic product estimate for growth of 0.4% this financial year to project contraction of 9.7%, with a further drop of 5.2% in the following financial year.
“The highly disruptive manner in which the U.S.’s security forces left the country and the Taliban takeover will mean that the economic pains for the country will be felt acutely over the short term,” said analysts in a report from Fitch Solutions, the research arm of Fitch Group.
“The risks to these forecasts are weighted to the downside, given that other economies that have faced similar types of political shocks that have also led to institutional collapse.”
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
