Nepal will receive a combined amount of US $ 4.4 billion for rebuilding and reconstruction of earthquake damage and recovery. Half the commitments are in grants and the other half consists of concessional loans. The government said the support commitment has been more than expected.
Briefing media after the conference, Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said that the generous pledges exceed what had been expected and that the conference was highly successful.
The amount expected was somewhere around 60 percent, or US $ 4.01 billion, of the recovery need total of US $ 6.69 worked out under the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA).
A large part of the commitment came from Nepal's two immediate neighbors India and China. India has pledged US $ 1 billion, of which 25 percent is grant. The southern neighbor also has converted 40 percent of the existing US $ 1 billion line of credit into grant.
Likewise, China will provide Nepal an amount equal to about US $500 million and all the support consists of grants.
The conference participated by delegates from 60 countries and agencies is the largest ever organised by Nepal and it is a success, said Mahat. Speaking at the media briefing, Minister Mahat said, "The success of this conference shows that Nepal is not alone."
In addition to the commitments from multilateral donors, commitments also came from Germany, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Switzerland, Norway, South Korea, Finland, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The commitments also include technical assistance and advisory support for disaster preparedness in the country. "We have realized the need of better preparedness in disaster management for future disasters and there are also support announcements for the purpose from Bangladesh and others," added Mahat.
Regarding the past record of slow spending, Mahat pledged effective and timely implementation through the reconstruction authority which will take shape soon.
"We have to translate commitments into specific projects and define the working modality and the timeframe for implementation through bilateral agreements on the commitments," said Mahat, adding that implementation will begin within a few months of the new fiscal year. The fiscal year starts from mid-July.
In order to address the widespread concern over proper use of the funds, Mahat also said, "A lot has to be done to ensure that there is no misuse and mismanagement, and that commitments reach the targeted groups."
The government has organized the conference two months after the earthquake of April 25 that caused huge damage, killing about 9,000 people and injuring some 22,000.
Phone users have paid Rs 1.59 billion to rebuild Dharahara
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