Cash-poor Afghanistan will delay paying civil servants: finance ministry official --- (Reuters) - Afghanistan will delay paying salaries to hundreds of thousands of civil servants next month because it does not have enough money, a finance ministry official said on Saturday. -- The acknowledgment that it is now impossible to pay October salaries on time highlights the huge challenges facing new leader Asraf Ghani, who is to be sworn in as president of the violence-torn country on Monday after months of turmoil following a disputed election result. -- Alongside the fight with the Taliban insurgency, Afghanistan's fiscal crisis is the most immediate problem facing Ghani and coalition partner Abdullah Abdullah. The two agreed to a unity government last week, breaking the election deadlock. -- Afghanistan's treasury now holds less than the 6.5 billion Afghanis ($116 million) needed to begin processing monthly salaries, said Alhaj Mohammad Aqa, director-general of treasury in the ministry. --- The October shortfall will affect only civilian government workers - Afghan military and police salaries should come on time because they are paid from a separate fund, he added. -- More, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/27/us-afghan-salary-idUSKCN0HM0E820140927