WB approves 200 mln U.S. dollar credit to help Nepal's budding federal system

KATHMANDU, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank announced on Wednesday that it approved a 200 million U.S. dollar credit to Nepal to improve the country's public financial management as a part of supporting Nepal's transition to federalism.

The credit, named "Fiscal and Public Financial Management Development Policy Credit", is the first in a two-part program to support the Nepali government in establishing a framework for fiscal federalism and improved public financial management, a press release of the World Bank (WB) stated. WB Board of Directors on Tuesday approved the credit for Nepal.

After holding elections for local, provincial and federal parliaments over the last year to create tier governance structures as per the new constitution, the Himalayan nation now requires to work towards generating financial resources, distributing them among three tiers of the governments and executing development projects effectively.

"This operation will help establish a fiscal framework that will ensure that the newly elected governments can deliver better services to all Nepali citizens," the press release quoted Qimiao Fan, WB Country Director for Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, as saying.

The Development Policy Credit is one of the several components that are expected to support the Himalayan country's budding federal system of government, according to WB.

Other support measures include policy advice, new credit line to improve service delivery and improve capacity, as well as restructuring of the existing portfolio to align with the new federal structure. Enditem