Monday, March 11, 2013

Assistance depends on performance indicators: ADB



Assistance to Nepal depends on the performance indicators based on the projects' evaluation, according to a development partner.
"The government and project implementing agencies must be aware that the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) assistance to Nepal will be based on the ADB-funded projects evaluation and performance indicators," said ADB country director for Nepal Kenichi Yokoyama during the trimester evaluation meeting with the Finance Ministry here today.
Though, ADB has invested $1.32 billion in seven sectors that has 33 investment projects — according to the current ADB portfolio in Nepal — the meeting today discussed on 18 projects in detail.
Secretaries and officials of various ministries, including finance secretary Shanta Raj Subedi, held discussion on the ADB-funded projects and their current status. "Such meetings will help identify practical problems during the implementation of projects and also help find solutions," the finance secretary said chairing the meeting on the occasion.
"Despite government's failure in bringing the full-fledged budget for the current fiscal year, there will no dearth of matching fund for the development partner-funded projects," he said, asking the development partners to continue their assistance.
The ADB has also been preparing new Country Partnership Strategy (2013-2017) with reduced strategic pillars to three from the current strategy's four pillars, apart from reducing sectors to five from the current seven and 15 sub-sectors from the current 24 to concentrate more on focused areas to get maximum output than the current one.
Despite the development partners repeated request to increase capital spending, the government has not been able to increase absorptive capacity that has made foreign aid plunge.
Nepal has received Rs 2.59 billion foreign cash and Rs 21.21 billion foreign grant commitment making it a total of Rs 23.80 billion foreign aid commitment in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, according to the Finance Ministry.
However, by the six months of the current fiscal year, the country had received Rs 1.31 billion foreign cash loans and Rs 10.25 billion foreign cash grants compared to Rs 2.59 billion and Rs 21.21 billion, respectively in the same period of the last fiscal year, according to the central bank.

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