Kathmandu, September 26
Minister for Finance Prakash Sharan Mahat has called for concessional financial assistance for the development of underdeveloped countries like Nepal.
Addressing the eighth meeting of the board of governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Minister Mahat called upon all the member nations to agree to the proposal put forward by Nepal for the arrangement of a separate concessional mechanism for the underdeveloped countries.
Stating that economic development of low- and middle-income countries, poverty alleviation, and access to financial resources for citizens' quality of life are three major challenges to achieving global economic stability and accelerating towards zero carbon emissions, Minister Mahat shared that the role of multilateral development banks including the AIIB is expected to be important in addressing these challenges.
He also claimed that multilateral development banks, including AIIB, have made significant contributions to low-income countries through economic recovery and development, job creation, green infrastructure development, expansion of access to financial resources, development of technical and institutional capacity, climate-induced disaster management, and other social security measures.
In the context of financial resources for infrastructure development of developing member nations, Mahat also pointed out the need for innovation in the sector and emphasised the need to use new and creative tools such as public-private partnerships, green bonds, mixed finance, etcetera, to avoid resource crunch.
He also stressed the increase of climate finance and related facilities for Nepal and other developing countries, which do not play a significant role in carbon emissions but are experiencing the extreme impacts of climate change.
On the occasion, Mahat also participated as a panellist in discussion on aspirations of solving the problems created by climate change and expected climate finance mobilisation for the same.
Stating that Nepal is highly affected by climate change, Minister Mahat shed light on the problems and challenges created by it. He particularly emphasised that developed and large economies that emit more carbon should fully comply with the commitments made in relation to addressing the problem of climate change in order to meet the challenges of developing countries like Nepal, which do not play a significant role in creating the problem.
Minister Mahat also drew the attention of all the participants on the need to review the price of carbon trading and maintain a reasonable price. A total of 86 member countries of the bank participated in the meeting.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 27, 2023, of The Himalayan Times
