Country receives record high foreign aid, concentrated on Province 3

Though, the country received record high foreign aid in the last fiscal 2016-17, it has been concentrated on province 3 only.
According to Development Cooperation Report (DCR), the country received record high foreign aid in the last fiscal 2016-17 worth $1,394.6 million, which is an increase of 30 per cent as compared to a fiscal year ago but 52 percent, of total foreign aid went to Province 3. The province received a total of US$ 354 million worth of foreign aid in the last fiscal year. The remaining six provinces received a combined $323 million only.
Likewise, annual foreign aid disbursement volume has also been between $960 million and $1,100 million over the previous six years, the DCR reports, adding that foreign aid disbursement significantly increased in the last fiscal year as the country received the pledged amount for the post-earthquake reconstruction drive.
Of the total amount of foreign aid disbursed, grants comprised a significant portion which was worth $582.39 million (41.76 per cent), loans at $548.85 million or 39.36 percent, and technical assistance was worth $263.36 million or 18.88 percent, the report states.
Likewise, off-budget expenditure dropped significantly to 27 percent of the total foreign aid disbursed in 2016-17 compared to 37 percent of fiscal 2015-16. However, in terms of amount, it increased to $382 million compared to $357.3 million of the previous fiscal.
The government spent 65 percent of the disbursed foreign aid through its own treasury and the remaining 35 percent of the disbursed amount was spent directly by the development partners themselves.
Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, unveiling the annual report, said that the foreign assistance realisation has grown significantly along with the completion of the foreign aid funded projects.
According to the report, the World Bank Group disbursed the highest amount among multilateral development partners which stood at $345.97 million, followed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) at $253.9 million. The UN country team disbursed $120.73 million and the European Union provided $83.89 million.
Likewise, the USAID disbursed the highest amount in the last fiscal among bilateral donors which was worth $134.06 million followed by United Kingdom at $128.31 million. Japan including Japan International Cooperation Agency disbursed $77.65 million, India provided $59.26 million and China disbursed $41.24 million.