Afghanistan’s Taliban regime has suspended the payment of salaries to all government employees until further notice, a move that has intensified criticism of the group’s inability to govern and manage even basic state functions.
Afghan media, citing officials from the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Finance and other sources, reported that the directive applies to all ministries and government institutions. Taliban authorities have so far offered no official explanation for the decision and have not responded to requests for comment.
While delays in salary payments have occurred in the past, Afghan media noted that this is the first time salaries have been formally suspended without any timeline for resumption, underscoring the worsening financial paralysis under Taliban rule.
Government employees said the latest suspension comes at a particularly harsh time, as winter has pushed many families into acute financial stress. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that although salaries and benefits are modest, they at least cover house rent and basic household needs. Without them, survival has become increasingly difficult.
Afghanistan has remained trapped in a severe economic crisis since the Taliban seized power in 2021. Budget shortfalls, cuts in international aid, banking restrictions, and blocked foreign funding have hit public sector workers the hardest, exposing what analysts describe as the regime’s growing administrative incompetence.
Critics argue that the Taliban do not represent the Afghan people, nor even a small fraction of the country’s population, and instead function as an imposed and unaccountable authority. As a result, they say, the group shows little concern for the welfare of ordinary Afghans, whose suffering continues to mount amid economic collapse and governance failure.
