Kathmandu, July 6: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide a loan of 165 million USD to the Government of Nepal.
Two separate loan agreements were signed between the Government of Nepal and the ADB at a program organized at the Ministry of Finance on Monday.
The loans will be used for the modernization of drinking water, sewage management, and customs administration.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle and ADB President Masato Kanda. Finance Secretary Dr Ghanashyam Upadhyay signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of Nepal while ADB Country Director for Nepal, Arnaud Cauchois signed it on behalf of the ADB.
According to the agreement, concessional loan of 115 million USD will be mobilized for the Integrated Water Supply and Sewerage Management (Sector) Project and 50 million USD policy-based loan for the modernization of customs administration, boost trade and support job creation.
The concessional loan is expected to help improve resilient water supply and sanitation services and strengthen institutional capacities in rapidly growing municipalities across Nepal. The water supply project is also expected to directly benefit more than 850,000 people in 13 municipalities.
Likewise, the policy-based loan supports subprogram 2 of the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Customs and Logistics Reforms Program, building on earlier efforts to advance customs processes and develop the logistics sector in the country.
On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr. Wagle highly appreciated the support received from ADB for Nepal’s sustainable development and expressed confidence that this partnership would be further strengthened in the coming days.
ADB President Kanda expressed his commitment that the bank is always ready to face internal and external economic challenges by continuing its six-decade-long cooperation with Nepal. #nepal #rss
