Afghanistan’s banking system is at an inflection point, following years of restricted growth due to the country's volatile political landscape. While under the control of the Taliban regime from 1996, the country lost access to international markets and business modernisation. While the conflict with the US-led coalition marked the end of the Taliban regime in 2001, the ensuing years of continued instability – with the Taliban still holding some areas of Afghanistan – saw international banks exit the country.
In March 2019, the US government and the Taliban met for talks in Doha, raising hopes of a peace deal. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is set to hold presidential elections in July 2019 (three months later than originally planned). President Ashraf Ghani, the only democratically elected president in the country’s history, is standing for re-election.
