afghan currency

The afghani, denoted by AFN, is the official currency used in Afghanistan. Behind the afghani lies a history characterized by a lack of standardization and currency revaluation. Prior to the United States invasion of Afghanistan, political parties, foreign powers and forgers each made their own old afghanis (AFI); the key attribute of this currency, at the time, was that there was essentially no standardization as afghanis were made without honoring serial numbers. (For example, after the Northern Alliance lost its power in 1996, banknotes were produced in Russia and sold on Kabul's markets at half the value!) In early 2003, a three-month transition period ended in the swapping of old afghani (AFI) banknotes for new currency. The new afghani received the code AFN, and had three zeros eliminated. As soon as October hit, Anwar Ul-Haq Ahadi, Governor of the Afghan Central Bank, announced that Afghans should use their own currency for daily transactions instead of the commonly utilized US dollars and Pakistani rupees. This move was in preparation for October 8, 2003, when all prices in the Afghan marketplace were to be specified in afghanis.