Kathmandu, September 12

The joint Nepal government and World Bank portfolio review concluded today covering 24 World Bank-financed projects with a total commitment of $2.35 billion.

The concluding meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada and World Bank Country Director for Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives in the South Asia region, Idah Z Pswarayi-Riddihough.

Of the 24 projects, 20 are investment projects (about $1.78 billion), three Programme for Results operations (about $468 million) and one Development Policy Credit (about $100 million) spread across energy, transport, earthquake housing reconstruction, education, health, social protection, water and irrigation, agriculture and livestock and public financial management sectors.

“The World Bank celebrates 50 years of the first International Development Association credit to Nepal this year and we are indeed proud to be a trusted partner in Nepal’s development agenda,” Pswarayi-Riddihough said, as per a media release. “We are encouraged by the successful implementation of projects in Nepal and look forward to working with the government to address implementation bottlenecks for effective and timely completion of projects for the benefit of the people of Nepal.”

Prior to the concluding meeting of portfolio review, a three-day sectoral review was organised from September 9 to 11 under the chair of secretaries of the concerned line ministries.

The annual stocktaking exercise is organised to review the performance of ongoing projects, assess the impact of federal transition and project restructuring, review procurement and disbursement performance.