Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda has announced that the bank will provide $2.4 billion in assistance to the Government of Nepal through 2029.
Following his meeting with Prime Minister Balen Shah, Kanda announced the support via the social media platform X on Tuesday. This amount is equivalent to over Rs 362 billion.
“I affirmed ADB’s strong commitment to supporting his ambitious reforms towards economic transformation, job creation, and investment,” he wrote. “ADB is stepping up as Nepal’s largest development partner, with additional support of $2.4 billion through 2029 to help translate the Prime Minister’s vision into results on the ground.”
Details regarding how much of this amount will be in the form of concessional loans and how much as grants have not been disclosed.
This commitment is part of the plan to provide $2.4 billion in assistance from 2024 to 2029 under the Country Partnership Strategy.
Dipa Dahal, the prime minister’s press and investigation expert, said that PM Shah and Kanda held a half-hour courtesy meeting on Tuesday.
During the meeting, PM Shah expressed confidence that Nepal would make a new leap in development through good governance and transparency in the coming days, according to Dahal.
Dahal also mentioned that both sides had positive discussions on advancing hydropower and tourism as the backbone of Nepal’s economy, as well as on cooperation in digitalization and tourism-related road infrastructure.
This marked the first time PM Shah held a one-on-one bilateral meeting with a foreign official.
