The government and six Multilateral Developments Banks (MDBs) and International Financial Institutions (IFIs)—Agence Française de Développement, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), OPEC Fund for International Development, and the World Bank (WB)—agreed to work together to harmonise disbursement procedures and practices to help enhance operational efficiency and achieve Nepal’s development goals.
The agreement was reached at a two-day ‘MDBs Disbursement Harmonisation Workshop’ organised in Kathmandu on March 25-26 by the MDBs and IFIs, in close partnership with the Finance Ministry.
“Fostering a unified disbursement system among all MDBs will help facilitate allocation of funds, enhance operational efficiency, and ensure timely disbursement of funds to the government to achieve development results,” said finance secretary Dr Krishna Hari Pushkar, on the occasion.
According to a press note issued by the organisers, the government and MDB-IFIs agreed to focus on various future collaborations including harmonisation of flow of funds, reporting, legal and disbursement arrangements for the three-tier structure of government; standardisation of reporting templates across MDB-IFIs’ operations in Nepal to reduce the administrative burden on the government; and strengthening and aligning country system with MDBs-IFIs to the extent possible.
“Unprecedented challenges demand urgent action and the need for harmonisation among the MDB-IFIs," the World Bank vice president and controller Pamela O’Connell said, adding that the World Bank, in its continued efforts to improve operational efficiency and support better development results for its mutual clients, is committed to work with co-financing partners in the area of disbursement harmonisation.
On the occasion, government representatives and MDB-IFIs agreed to carry froward the momentum by way of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and MDB-IFIs, which will be prepared and implemented in a phased manner.
The Kathmandu Declaration would be a model to be emulated in other countries, according to the press note.
“To achieve sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction it is imperative that budget allocation is fully utilised," Financial Comptroller General Hari Prasad Mainali said, adding that the government is committed to strengthening reforms to build transparency and accountability of public financial management systems and strengthen service delivery.
The workshop was attended by high-level representatives from the government and MDB-IFIs.
Participants discussed disbursement and implementation-related opportunities and challenges, and the way forward to supporting MDB-IFIs operations in Nepal. In view of the federalism transition, legal and disbursement options available for project implementation at provincial and local levels were also discussed, and international experiences were shared.
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