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FinObservatory

Cross-border banking exposure / Afghanistan

What the world’s banks lend to Afghanistan

The funding view: cross-border claims of BIS-reporting banks on Afghanistan, from the locational statistics (LBS, by lender residence), with the consolidated claims by bank nationality (CBS) alongside. BIS-reporting banks held $12M of cross-border claims on Afghanistan in Q4 2025, from $1M when the series begins in Q4 1977.

$12M
LBS cross-border claims
Q4 2025, all reporters
−$121M
Change since 2019
−91.2% vs Q4 2019
$1.28B
LBS liabilities to Afghanistan
Q4 2025, banks’ funding from
$28M
CBS international claims
Q4 2025, nationality basis

Cross-border claims on Afghanistan, Q4 1977Q4 2025

LBS cross-border claims of all reporting banks on Afghanistan, in USD billions, quarterly. The GFC and COVID quarters are shaded. This is the residence view, where a claim counts by where the lending bank sits, so a claim on Afghanistan booked from any reporting jurisdiction is included.

Hover for daily values

Source: BIS Locational Banking Statistics (WS_LBS_D_PUB), BIS Data Portal (data.bis.org). Selection: cross-border claims (measure C), all reporting countries (5A) vs Afghanistan as counterparty, all instruments, all currencies, all counterparty sectors, quarterly, amounts outstanding. License: free with “Source: BIS” attribution. Values shown in USD billions; raw BIS unit is USD millions. Methodology

Consolidated claims by bank nationality

CBS international claims on Afghanistan in Q4 2025, broken out by the nationality of the lending banks (where the parent is headquartered, worldwide-consolidated, immediate-counterparty basis). The top 5 reporting banking systems shown account for $5M of the $28M consolidated total. This is a different measure from the residence-based claims above and is not additive with them.

Bank nationalityInternational claims
GBR United Kingdom$4M
FRA France$1M
CHE Switzerland$0.32M
AUS Australia$0.10M
TUR Türkiye$0.01M

Source: BIS Consolidated Banking Statistics (WS_CBS_PUB), BIS Data Portal (data.bis.org). Selection: international claims (measure I, domestic banks 4B, immediate-counterparty basis F), individual reporting banking system by nationality vs Afghanistan as counterparty, latest quarter, amounts outstanding. License: free with “Source: BIS” attribution. CBS carries claims only; it has no liabilities measure by design. Methodology

Back to the cross-border overview, or Afghanistan’s full financial profile on its country page. See the methodology for LBS versus CBS and the exact selections.