Kathmandu, July 28
Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada has emphasised
that financing need for infrastructure and economic recovery was more important
than climate financing for Nepal.
“Climate financing is an urgent priority,
but the unfolding COVID-19 and associated economic crisis and thus financing
need for health infrastructure and economic recovery is even more urgent at the
moment for low carbon and low income countries like Nepal,” he said at the
fifth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB) on Tuesday.
He said that it was necessary to protect
the achievements made in the poverty reduction so far.
During the round table discussion as a lead
speaker, Dr. Khatiwada urged that the AIIB
be more flexible to ensure concessional access to finance particularly to the low
income countries, so that basic infrastructure projects would be financially
viable.
“It implies to further flexibility in
lending terms, also from the debt sustainability perspectives,” he said.
According to Dr. Khatiwada, the AIIB should
come forward to further extensive collaboration with other international
financial institutions to create synergy in long term financing in
infrastructure so that large financing gaps in the low income countries could
be met which is also so critical to achieve the SDGs.
He expressed his solidarity with the
collective efforts to fight against the COVID-19.
The meeting was held virtually among the governors
of the member countries of the AIIB. President of China Xi Jinping inaugurated
the meeting and delivered the opening address.
The Finance Minister congratulated Jin
Liqun on being reelected as the President of AIIB unanimously.
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