Under the new changes, WB had recently informed the government that its Dhaka-based office would henceforth oversee Nepal operations, while it would appoint country manager to lead the office here.[break]
The leading multilateral donor has added that the upcoming changes would not affect the bank´s operation in the country.
“We have conveyed to the government that our office in Kathmandu will remain operational and fully staffed under the leadership of a new country manager, who will be permanently stationed in Kathmandu to serve Nepal´s needs,” said Susan Goldmark, the WB Country Director for Nepal.
Issuing a press statement, the WB on the day clarified that the new changes are being implemented to increase efficiency and achieve greater synergies between WB offices and staff located in the South Asia region.
“The decision of changes by the WB senior management is guided purely by internal needs and is in line with its long-running efforts of consolidation,” reads the statement.
The WB said the bank has already effected similar changes in other programs in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and East Asia as well.
Goldmark said that Nepal remains an important partner for the WB and over the past four years, it has significantly strengthened its presence in Kathmandu. During this period, the size of WB´s portfolio has grown four-fold.
“These internal changes won´t affect the volume of the WB´s assistance to Nepal. The volume of assistance has always been determined by Nepal´s development policies, performance and economic management. That´s the way it has been and that´s the way it will remain,” she said.
Despite such statement, experts here said the absence of country director would weaken the position of the WB office itself, thereby affecting Nepal´s capacity to mobilize aid particularly as WB has traditionally been serving as lead donor agency, coordinating with different bilateral and multilateral donors for aid mobilization, alignment and harmonization on areas of Nepal´s priority.
The WB country director enjoys direct communication with the regional vice-president and the board. But in its absence, the WB Nepal Office will now have to communicate via Dhaka office, meaning the channel of communication will be longer and, therefore, Nepal´s needs would no longer be viewed with the same urgency as in the past, experts added.
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