Kathmandu, April 10

The government has formed an external source mobilisation committee to effectively mobilise the resources that the government receives from external sources, especially donor and multilateral agencies to combat the spread of the coronavirus and the unfavourable situation arising out of it.

Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada had proposed forming such a committee led by Finance Secretary Sishir Dhungana in a meeting with donor agencies and development partners that was held today through a video conference. Participating donor agencies and multilateral lenders have acknowledged the government’s proposal to form a committee to this effect. The committee will also comprise members of other government agencies, private sector and donor agencies.

During the meeting with donor agencies and multilateral lenders, Finance Minister Khatiwada said that the coronavirus pandemic is the biggest human and economic crisis of the 21st century and stressed on the need for collaborative efforts to fight against it. Citing that Nepal will leave no stone unturned to fight against the coronavirus and revive businesses and economy, he highlighted the crucial role of donor agencies and multilateral lenders in this process.

The finance minister also sought further support from donor agencies to fight the situation caused by the coronavirus citing that traditional support policies and programmes of donor agencies will not be enough to combat the coronavirus and its impact. “As the coronavirus will have more lasting impact on countries like Nepal which has limited resources, external support and resources are crucial to such countries,” he added.

The video conference was participated by representatives of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Finance Corporation, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the United Nations, among others.

In the meeting, lenders and donor agencies stressed on the need to ensure availability of health resources to cope with the pandemic and effective policies and programmes to revive the economy.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 11, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.