Nepal gets Rs 107b in foreign assistance

KATHMANDU, July 18: The government received foreign assistance commitment of Rs 107.56 billion last fiscal year, up from Rs 106 billion of fiscal year 2010/11 and Rs 96 billion of fiscal year 2009/10.



The commitment expressed in the last fiscal year ended July 15 included Rs 56.93 billion in grant and Rs 50.62 billion in loans, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.[break]



Among grants, bilateral donor agencies committed to provide Rs 32.07 billion, while multilateral donor agencies pledged to give away Rs 24.83 billion last fiscal year. Among loans, bilateral donor agencies pledged to provide Rs 21.45 billion and multilateral donor agencies expressed commitment to give away Rs 29.17 billion to the country in the last fiscal year.



These bilateral and multilateral donor agencies signed agreements for 49 projects and programs with donor agencies in the last fiscal year.



In the last fiscal year, donors pledged Rs 5.08 billion for agricultural sector, Rs 8.99 billion for education, Rs 32.70 billion for energy sector, Rs 8.15 billion for environment, Rs 688.3 million for financial sector, Rs 4.89 billion for forestry, Rs 1.50 billion for health, Rs 1.24 billion for home administration, Rs 168 million for culture promotion, Rs 1.74 billion for industrial sector, Rs 3.30 billion for irrigation, Rs 8.59 billion for local development, Rs 938 million for peace projects, Rs 16.24 billion for physical infrastructure, Rs 6.24 billion for drinking water projects and Rs 7.06 billion for other purposes.



Countries like Japan, China, the UK, Switzerland and Norway were the biggest grant contributors for Nepal in the last fiscal year, while countries like India and China were leading providers of loans.



In total, 16 countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the US, expressed commitment to extend grants and loans to Nepal in 2011/12.



Among multilateral donor agencies, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, Climate Investment Fund, European Union and OPEC Fund led the league table in terms of extending grants and loans. In total 13 multilateral donor agencies, including UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF, provided grants and loans to Nepal in the last fiscal year.

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