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Kathmandu, February 17

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said it achieved a record disbursement of $323.7 million for various development projects in Nepal in 2019.

Some of the projects contributing to last year’s record disbursement include the Earthquake Emergency Assistance Project ($38.5 million), the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation’s Power System Expansion Project ($28.7 million), Food Safety and Agriculture Commercialisation Programme ($25 million), Regional Urban Development Project ($22.1 million), Rural Connectivity Improvement Project ($20.2 million), and Supporting School Sector Development Programme ($20 million).

Speaking at a country portfolio review meeting jointly organised by ADB and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) here today, Mukhtor Khamudkhanov, ADB country director for Nepal, said the support in the infrastructure sector has increased in the recent years with larger but fewer projects.

“But while disbursement has picked up pace, challenges remain and the overall performance of ADB operations in Nepal could be much better,” he added.

Khamudkhanov added that for better and quicker results on the ground, higher lending needs to be matched with improved implementation and enhanced technical capacity of implementing agencies. “Difficult terrain and remoteness of project sites, addressing safeguards issues, and the country’s ongoing transition to federalism that takes time have also posed challenges in effective implementat

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