Kabul, Mar 18 (IANS): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) would give a payable loan of $225 million to Afghanistan which is expected to cover 46 per cent deficit in the national budget, a local news agency reported on Thursday.

"In the 1400 fiscal year, around 17.4 billion afghanis ($225 million) is anticipated as a loan from the IMF and the national debt has amounted to $1.5 billion and has been covered by international organisations and many countries," the Afghan online business news portal, Wadsam, reported.

The 1400 fiscal year on the Persian calendar began on December 21, 2020, Xinhua news agency reported.

The report noted that the loan would have a repayment policy.

The Afghan fiscal year's total budget is over $6 billion, which consists of over $4 billion for the regular budget, and over $2 billion in the development budget, according to the report.

The latest payable loan comes as poverty and rising unemployment have spread across the country as the prolonged conflicts and fighting in the country as well as drought added to the miseries of the war-weary Afghans.

About 54.5 per cent of Afghans were living under the poverty line in 2019, according to Afghan officials.

However, the number soared to 72 per cent last year, according to the World Bank.