Kathmandu, Oct 6: Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle held a high-level bilateral meeting with World Bank Group President Ajay Banga in Washington, D.C.
Wagle, who is visiting the United States at Banga’s invitation while leading a Nepali delegation, discussed Nepal’s reconstruction and broader economic priorities with the World Bank chief.
During the meeting, Wagle discussed mobilising around $1 billion to rebuild physical and economic infrastructure damaged by the recent floods in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa. The proposed resources would also support broader economic reforms, insurance and social protection programmes.
Banga expressed sorrow over the loss and damage caused by the floods and pledged significant World Bank support for Nepal’s reconstruction efforts.
He also praised the new government’s steps toward policy and institutional reforms and stressed the need to increase infrastructure investment and create more jobs within Nepal.
According to Wagle’s secretariat, Banga said the World Bank would launch a new initiative to expand joint investment in Nepal’s priority sectors in coordination with development partners, including the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation.
World Bank Country Director for Nepal David Sislen said the meeting marked the first direct bilateral talks between a World Bank president and a Nepali finance minister in the past three decades.
People’s News Monitoring Service
Login to add a comment