Nepal to hold donors' meeting soon: official

Nepal will soon call a donors' meeting to explore ways to expedite the country's economic development in the post-conflict situation, a top official at the ministry of finance (MoF) disclosed here on Wednesday.

Nepal's major donors are the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Development Program, India, Japan, the United States, European Union, Norway, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Pramod Kumar Karki, joint secretary of the MoF, told reporters that ADB's president Haruhiko Kuroda assured him of aid to Nepal.

Kuroda has asked for detailed plans and programs from Nepal, he said.

Donors have hinted that they will provide aid to Nepal if peace is established and stability is ensured, Rameshwore Khanal, joint secretary of the ministry of finance under foreign aid coordination division (FACD) said.

According to the ministry's officials, Nepal needs more than 1. 2 billion U.S. dollars for the reconstruction for which the ministry is working out certain mechanisms.

Nepal's revenue growth has already turned negative by 3.1 percent, according to recent announcement by the central bank Nepal Rastra Bank's governor (NRB) Bijay Nath Bhattarai.

The Nepali government officials said that income inequalities within the country had fueled insurgency and conflict.

Nepal also sought regional cooperation and integration in the area of trade, investment and cross border infrastructure development, according to Nepali government officials.

Since 2002, Nepal's Gross Domestic Product growth rate has slowed down to an average of two percent per annum.

Preliminary estimates indicate that the growth rate will not exceed two percent at the end of this current fiscal year as well, which will end on 15 July, 2006, according to ADB.

Source: Xinhua