Kathmandu. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel and World Bank’s Vice President for South Asia Johannes Jut held a courtesy call today.
During the meeting held at the Ministry of Finance, discussions were held on the economy, urban physical infrastructure, investment, tourism and environment. Stating that there has been significant improvement in the indicators of the economy as compared to last year, Minister Poudel said That Nepal has improved in policy, structural, decision-making and implementation process.
Stating that the Country Partnership Framework prepared by the World Bank for the next six years is in sync with the development needs of Nepal and the priorities of the government, he said the government wants to work with the World Bank to formulate projects and programmes as per the framework.
Stating that the Alternative Development Finance Mobilization Bill has been passed by the House of Representatives and is under discussion in the National Assembly, Finance Minister Poudel said that with the passage of the bill, the government would invest in the projects that would yield results in collaboration with the private sector. He sought support from the World Bank to move ahead as per the goals of the bill.
Jut, vice-president of the World Bank’s South Asia region, said the World Bank would support Nepal in order to achieve high economic growth rate. Stating that the World Bank would support Lumbini, The Kathmandu Valley’s urban infrastructure, reducing environmental pollution and economic growth, he opined that the private sector should also move forward with it.
Stating that the improvement in the indicators of Nepal’s economy is positive, Vice President Jut said that it is necessary to increase investment for Nepal. He expressed the belief that with the enactment of the law related to alternative development finance, more new areas could be identified for investment in the infrastructure sector and it would help attract private sector investment and play an important role for economic growth.
