Finance Minister Bhattarai requests for Rs 34 billion assistance from World Bank

Finance Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has urged the World Bank to provide Rs 34 billion worth of assistance to Nepal for the next three years.

According to Kantipur daily, Dr. Bhattarai, during his meeting with managing director and vice president of South Asian region of the World Bank, in Washington DC, Saturday, appealed for such support to be invested in education and health sector.

In reply, the WB officials said they would provide the support only if Nepal government fulfills half a dozen conditions.

The major condition includes corruption control and good governance. It has also asked the government to improve the standard of service delivery to the people and create environment conducive for private sector investment and business. For that purpose, the bank officials said that reforms in Labour Act and simplification in provisions related with registration and liquidation of companies were necessary.

The daily quotes a participant at the meeting as saying that WB officials also questioned the government’s commitment toward privatisation. They also raised the issue of the new budget being inflated in size