Afghanistan's import and export trade risk
After the collapse of the Taliban government in 2001, Afghanistan opened up to international trade. The state has established very few trade barriers on imported products, and tariffs have remained stable in 2016 given weak imports. However, the poor state of the infrastructure, a commercial and legal framework, which remains underdeveloped, and persistent insecurity act as trade barriers. Afghanistan's bid to become a member of the WTO has nonetheless been approved by the members of the organization. In addition, the IMF and Afghanistan have been working since 2010 on the implementation of economic policies to improve the country's trade balance. With an increase in exports and slower growth in imports (due to weaker domestic demand), the Central Statistical Organization of Afghanistan estimates that the trade deficit rose from -36.7% of GDP in 2015 to -35% of GDP in 2016 (with a trade deficit of 7.151 billion US dollars). Exports...