The country received foreign aid commitment of Rs 55.29 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2013-14.
According to the Ministry of Finance, Rs 37.46 billion was pledged as grants, where Rs 17.83 billion was loans.
A total of 10 bilateral and multilateral donor agencies have committed Rs 55.29 billion in different sectors including agriculture, local development, education, alternative energy and finance to good governance, physical infrastructure and culture, tourism and civil aviation.
The bilateral donors like the UK, Denmark, China, Finland, Switzerland, Norway and Japan have committed Rs 33.28 billion, whereas multilateral donor agencies like Asian Development Bank, European Union and World Bank have committed Rs 22.01 billion.
Among them, the UK committed the highest foreign aid commitment of Rs 11.63 billion in the form of grants, which will be used in School Sector Reform Programme and improvement of local governance.
Likewise, Denmark with Rs 10.80 billion grant commitment is the second largest donor. The grant will go to inclusive growth programme called ‘Unnati’ and the Peace.
Asian Development Bank with Rs 2.09 billion grants and Rs 7.5 billion loan commitment is the third largest development partner. “The aid will go into the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Road Connectivity Project and the energy sector,” it said.
The World Bank has committed Rs 6.80 billion, of which Rs 6.60 billion loan and Rs 200 million grant. A large chunk of the aid that stands at Rs 3.90 billion will go towards Nepal-India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project while rest will be for development policy credit.
China with Rs 2.92 billion grant and Rs 3.73 billion loan – to purchase of Chinese aircraft – whereas the European Union has committed to extend a grant of Rs 5.62 billion for the School Sector Reform Programme and the Public Finance Management Reform Programme.