World Bank extends concessional loan assistance of 440 mln USD to Nepal

KATHMANDU, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank agreed to provide 440 million U.S. dollars of concessional loan assistance on Sunday for Nepal's post-earthquake housing reconstruction, livestock innovation, technical education and vocational training.

The World Bank Nepal office said in a statement that the agreements were signed by Nepal's Finance Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari and World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan Qimiao Fan in the presence of Nepali Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki.

"These three agreements are important for Nepal because they boost job creation by investing more money in the country's successful post-earthquake housing reconstruction as well as providing resources for the livestock sector and for youth skills training," Country Director Fan was quoted as saying in the statement.

Under the first agreement, the World Bank will provide 300 million U.S. dollars in additional finance for the Earthquake Housing Reconstruction Project.

From a preliminary estimate of 500,000 households in 2015, the total number of eligible and enrolled beneficiaries has increased to 650,000 households. The government has increased the housing grant to Rs 300,000 per household (about 3,000 U.S. dollars) from the earlier Rs 200,000 (about 2,000 U.S. dollars).

The second financing agreement will support a Livestock Sector Innovation Project with a credit of 80 million U.S. dollars. Nearly 200,000 livestock producers across 271 municipalities will directly benefit from the project.

"The project will support the objectives of the government's Agriculture Development Strategy and its emphasis on livestock for sustained agriculture and economic growth, poverty reduction, and improving food and nutrition security," the statement said.

According to the third agreement, the World Bank will finance a second phase of the Enhanced Vocational Education and Training Project with a 60-million-U.S.-dollar credit.

In its second phase, the project will help improve access to market relevant training programs and strengthen the delivery of Technical Education and Vocational Training. Enditem