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| Kathmandu, Saturday May 24, 2003 Jestha 10, 2060. |
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ODA dips by 3.6 per cent in ten months
Post Report
KATHMANDU, May 23 ; Despite the resumption of
much-awaited peace process, the flow of Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the
developed nations to Nepal during the first ten months of the current fiscal year declined
by 3.6 per cent.
According to statistics released by Foreign Aid Co-ordination
Division of the Ministry of Finance, various bilateral and multilateral agencies committed
a total assistance of Rs 30.72 billion for 41 projects by mid-May.
Like the past trend, the amount of grant was three-fold
higher than the total amount received under loan heads. During the period, the total
inflow of grants for 37 development projects remained at Rs 23.56 billion while the total
loan amount for four projects was Rs 7.16 billion.
During the review period, the Road Network Development
Project remained the single biggest absorber of foreign loans. The project received Rs
3.45 billion in loan assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral
developing agency.
Similarly, in terms of project amount, Secondary Education
Support Programme was the second largest absorber during the period. The project received
grant assistance worth Rs 3.03 billion from the Danish government.
Similarly, Master Plan Operation Projects for the period of
2002 to 2006 remained the third largest recipient of grant assistance. The project
attracted grant assistance commitment worth Rs 2.77 billion from the United Nations Fund
for Population Activities (UNFPA).
With a loan assistance of Rs 2.33 billion from the ADB, the
Secondary Education Support Programme became the fourth largest recipient while Global
Food for Education Initiatives secured the fifth position by receiving a grant assistance
of Rs 2.27 billion from World Food Programme (WFP).
During the period, the WFP positioned itself as the number
one lender to Nepal with Rs 6.06 billion grant assistance for four projects. Likewise,
with the total loan assistance about Rs 5.91 billion, the ADB became the second largest
donor to Nepal. During the period, the ADB, which used to be the largest donor in the
past, extended loan for five projects.
Likewise, the government of Denmark secured the third
position by extending a grant amount of Rs 3.03 billion for Secondary Education Support
Programme. During the review period, the government of Japan, which used to be the largest
bilateral donor, remained slipped to the fourth position by extending grant assistance
worth Rs 2.52 billion for five projects. The UNFPA, which provided a grant assistance of
Rs 2.77 billion for Master Plan Operation, remained in the fifth position.
Despite the marginal decline, the continued encouraging flow
of foreign aid is mainly attributed to the reform-oriented image that Nepal made during
the last meeting of Nepal Development Forum (NDF) held in Nepal for the first time. During
the meeting, Nepal reiterated its commitment to speeding up economic reforms and has
accorded a top priority to the financial sector reforms.
Nepal heavily depends upon foreign assistance for its
development activities as majority of the total development expenditures come from foreign
assistance. The budget for the current fiscal year also seeks about Rs 27 billion for
development expenditure from foreign loans and assistance.
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