Biden administration faces big choices as economic calamity hangs over Afghanistan

But signs of danger are mounting. Afghanistan’s currency, the Afghani, lost about 5 percent of its value this week, reaching 86 to the U.S. dollar, according to Bloomberg News.

Majrooh, the health minister, said Afghanistan’s two major health-care systems — one funded by international donors, the other by the Afghan central government — are under threat of collapse. He said they need oxygen, oil, fuel and food for patients.

“Economically, this is likely to be a disaster unless they can figure out a way to keep the development aid going and the international support going,” said Matthias Lücke, a senior researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and a former official at the IMF. “It will be close to complete breakdown of the state and the economy. It is scary.”

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