Nepal to stress on budgetary support in Aid Effectiveness conference

Nepal is asking the donors to believe in government as it has increased its accountability and transparency in expenditure.
"We will request the donors to channelise their aid through government budget," said finance secretary Krishnahari Baskota before flying to Busan, South Korea to take part in the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that started today.
"The government has increased its accountability and transparency in expenditure," he said, adding that the donors, who seek accountability of their aid, can now believe on the government machinery.
Nepal has also upgraded its budget format according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) standard to make the donors more comfortable and increase country ownership of the aid instead of off the budgetary aid, the finance secretary, who is taking part in the evaluation meeting — of earlier commitments and implementation of 2005 Paris Declaration — with finance minister Barsha Man Pun, added. "The people of the donor countries have right to know that their tax has been used effectively."
Meanwhile, the key actors meeting in Busan today, the first day of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, laid emphasis on inclusive ownership, mutual accountability and the platform of the groundbreaking Paris Declaration.
Speakers representing donor and recipient governments and civil society experts stressed the importance of going beyond technical targets to meet challenges in achieving inclusive indicators that are commonly based on concrete figures in poverty reduction.
Developing mechanisms to create diverse stakeholders, including citizen participation in decision-making and implementation of balanced partnerships to achieve transparency and poverty reduction have been defined as some of the landmarks of ownership and accountability.
The concepts are aimed at encouraging domestic accountability that will foster development efficiency through the participation of grassroots-level citizens. The test in Busan is to implement political commitments to strengthen the process and move away from shaping aid narrowly through donor disbursements.
Still, surveys post-Paris indicate that more than 60 per cent of donor and developing countries have not met their targets apart from mutual accountability that remains a sticking point for donor countries.
The donors also pointed to pressure from tax payers in their countries who expect concrete improvement in poverty eradication in shorter spaces of time.
Experts also pointed to the need to move ahead in achieving effectiveness in Busan to combat widening development issues – the emergence of new aid players against a backdrop of global disillusionment with the results of trillions of dollars already spent in overseas development.
Counter methods included the urgent need to monitor and disseminate success stories of mutual accountability like gaining the trust of grassroots communities that often feel ignored in the aid debate.
Some 2,000 delegates will, until December 1, review progress in improving the effectiveness of aid, before making commitments towards a new development paradigm.

Nepal to seek loan
KATHMANDU: Nepal will also seek loan from ExIm Bank of South Korea during the meeting at Busan, according to finance secretary Krishnahari Baskota. "The government will also ask the South Korean government to increase number of Nepali employees under Employment Permit System (EPS) and strengthen relationships between Financial Information Units of both the countries to fight against the flow of dirty money," he added.