NATO troops withdrawal hits Afghan economy

KABUL, May 22 (AFP): Afghanistan's aid-dependent economy is slowing markedly as NATO troops withdraw, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday, warning that violence, political instability and lack of reform threaten future growth.

Gross domestic product (GDP) growth will slide to 3.2 per cent in 2014, the IMF projected in its annual forecast for Afghanistan, which has received billions of dollars in funding since the extremist Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.

This is down from 3.6 per cent in 2013 and a huge drop from the 14 per cent growth recorded in 2012, when bumper harvests gave the economy an unusual boost.