Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal and WB Country Director for Nepal Susan Goldmark signed and exchanged agreements in this connection on Friday, the WB said in a press release.
Under the first agreement, the WB will be providing US$ 89.2 million in additional financing for the Power Development Project, which will help the government implement its energy crisis management action plan.
The additional financing will include investments in rehabilitation of the Kali Gandaki ´A´ hydroelectric plant, which will increase its production, and rehabilitation of thermal plants in Duhabi and Hetauda.
It will also finance construction of the 220 KV Bharatpur-Bardaghat transmission line, strengthen the old and severely overloaded distribution network in Kathmandu Valley and expand rural electrification.
The investments are expected to provide relief to Nepalis from the ongoing energy crisis.
“While it is clear that chronic power shortages will continue to be a defining feature of life in Nepal for several years to come, the Bank is stepping up its assistance to help Nepal minimize economic impacts and hardships in the short term as well as to implement medium to long term development plans”, the release quoted Goldmark as saying.
Under the second agreement, the WB is providing US$ 20 million for implementation of the Project for Agriculture Commercialization and Trade (PACT), which aims to improve the competitiveness of smallholder farmers and agribusinesses in 25 districts.
PACT is designed to help farmer groups and cooperatives engage in profitable market-oriented production and improve access to markets, among other things.
The signing of the two new agreements has brought the total number of projects currently financed by the WB in Nepal to 16, representing a total value of US$ 916 million.
Related story
What is missing in budget for agriculture?
