WB team goes back; to file Nepal report soon

Kathmandu, February 16:

World Bank’s managing director Graeme Wheeler may have managed to strike a rapport with key political leaders, senior government officials and development professionals on his first official tour to Nepal, but he certainly left the journalist fraternity in the city high and dry.

Although he did meet a handful of scribes and briefed them on World Bank’s take on Nepal, he appeared to reveal precious little to the media. Even as some hoped to catch him or at least Prafful Patel, vice-president South east Asia over tea that followed the brief meeting for a more detailed explanation, the officials were seen hurrying to get into awaiting four-wheelers. “They have to rush to catch their flight,” informed a WB official.

While it’s a routine exercise for World Bank to send a team of the top management to any country prior to crucial developments, Wheeler’s whirlwind tour of three days holds special significance. For, besides being the number two man at WB, he takes back significant report on the situation in Nepal following his interactions with government officials and politicians prior to the discussions on WB strategy for Nepal. Country director for Nepal Kenichi Ohashi leaves for WB headquarters, Washington, next week for the upcoming WB board meeting on February 22 to finalise the crucial interim strategy for Nepal.

Wheeler claimed to have met the Maoist leaders apart from other government officials and politicians and felt all of them were concerned, in particular, about rural development. “It’s a unique opportunity for Nepal,” he said, “But it is important to focus on development agenda in addition to the political agenda.” He said his interactions with the officials and politicians appeared encouraging as all of them seemed committed to economic reforms.

While the MD from New Zealand assured his organisation was behind the government towards building a ‘new Nepal’, he realised the finance minister would have to cope with myriad challenges and pressures in the coming months. “The key litmus test for Nepal, I think, would be the formation of the interim government and formulation of the policies and agenda thereafter,” commented WB’s senior economist Hassan Zaman.

Besides presenting the report on interim strategy, Hashi for the first time will also table a project on higher education, Zaman told The Himalayan Times today. This higher education grant, to the tune of approximately $60 million, would be the first WB grant in education as the Bank has never given any grant in education per se, informed another WB official. The education grant, he pointed out, to begin with aims at decentralising higher education to campus level, providing financial assistance to students from poor households and support the expansion of higher secondary education in Nepal.