The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that the economic situation in Afghanistan will worsen and urged a rapid injection of liquidity into its economy, where he said, "babies (are) being sold to feed their siblings."

Axar.az reports that this was reported by foreign media.

"Despair and extremism will grow. We need to act now to prevent economic and social collapse and find ways to prevent further suffering for millions of Afghans," Guterres told reporters at the U.N. headquarters.

Guterres said health facilities are overcrowded with malnourished children, people are burning their possessions to keep warm and livelihoods have been lost.

"More than half the population of Afghanistan now depends on life-saving assistance," he said, noting that without a more concerted effort from the international community, Afghans could face acute poverty.

Guterres said the U.N. requires more than $5 billion this year, which he said would ramp up life-saving food and agriculture support, health services, treatment for malnutrition, emergency shelter, water and sanitation, protection and emergency education.

"These are all critical investments to help Afghans help themselves in rebuilding their lives and building a future for their children," he said.