Afghans worry as US spending boom comes to an end

http://www.stripes.com/afghans-worry-as-us-spending-boom-comes-to-an-end-1.288816

For the past decade, billions of dollars in American aid poured into one of
the world's poorest countries, providing previously unimaginable
opportunities to thousands of Afghan workers.

Now, the boom is over. The Afghan economy, which had been expanding by as
much as 14 percent a year, has slumped. Growth this year is expected to be
just 3.2 percent, according to the World Bank. That slowdown reflects the
declining American spending and also apprehension about security.

Since 2002, Congress has appropriated $103 billion to help Afghanistan
rebuild its security forces, government and economy. During the past seven
years, when the bulk of the money arrived, the U.S. aid has accounted for
about 75 percent of the country's gross domestic product, according to the
Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction.

And that funding does not include the money the Pentagon spent in
Afghanistan executing the war, for things such as maintaining basesand
feeding the troops.

By Epictetus