Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to resume extending grant assistance to Nepal and allocate additional funds for the country to help it achieve its development targets, finance minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said today.
After returning to Kathmandu today from Kazakhstan, where he participated in ADB’s 47th annual meeting, he also said that the bank has responded positively to Nepal’s request.
“During the meeting, Nepal made it clear that the country has just completed its peace process and starting to focus on economic development, so support from multilateral donor agencies like ADB was needed,” he said, adding that Nepal still needs grant assistance from the ADB.
The ADB – the second largest donor agency for Nepal – had stopped extending grant assistance to the country around a year ago. The development partner has also been complaining about Nepal’s inability to utilise aid and had previously cautioned to slash assistance to the country, if the situation does not improve.
However, the multilateral donor is still interested in extending aid for the development of projects like hydropower, irrigation, road and aviation, according to the minister. “But we have made it clear that Nepal does not need aid just for the sake of it. Nepal wants to focus on larger projects that can create an impact on the economy rather than disburse funds in small projects.”