International donors pledge $4.4 bn to rebuild Nepal

Led by India and China, global donors on Thursday  pledged nearly $ 4.4 billion aid to quake-hit Nepal for the country’s massive reconstruction efforts and to revive its economy, with the Nepalese Prime Minister vowing “zero-tolerance” to corruption in disbursing the relief money. 

 The International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction (ICNR) - 2015 concluded on Thursday  with pledges from donor nations and multilateral agencies of around $ 4.4 billion, Finance Minister <g data-gr-id="45">Ramsharan</g> Mahat said at a press meet here.

 “Nepal’s closest neighbours India and China made substantial commitments, which is very encouraging and overwhelming,” Mahat said.

Hailing “steely determination” of Nepalese people, India hoped its $ two billion assistance, including the $ 1 billion aid announced on Thursday, would help the quake-ravaged nation in its huge reconstruction efforts and said it will stand behind its oldest friend and neighbour.

 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, addressing an international donors’ conference here, pledged to offer $ 1 billion in aid to Nepal over and above its existing billion dollar developmental assistance.

 She said a quarter of the billion-dollar aid will be a grant and it will be over and above India’s existing bilateral developmental assistance of another $ 1 billion over the next 5 years, which takes the total amount to $ 2 billion.

Nepalese Prime Minister vowed “full transparency” and “zero-tolerance” to corruption in disbursing the relief money to the victims.

At the day-long international donors’ conference, India announced the largest aid of $ one billion to the quake- ravaged country for its massive reconstruction programme. Pledging the aid, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj asserted that India will strongly stand behind the Nepalese government which is seeking to “wipe the tears” of every Nepali.

She said <g data-gr-id="38">one fourth</g> of the $ one billion assistance will be grant and it will be over and above India’s existing bilateral developmental assistance of another $ one billion over the next five years which takes the total assistance to $ 2 billion. 

At the conference, China pledged $ 483 million to help the country rebuilt after the quake, saying it wanted to focus on sustainable development of the nation.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also offered a concessional loan from Silk Road Fund to Nepal’s reconstruction efforts. China will offer training opportunities for 1,500 Nepalis over the next year.

Japan announced an assistance package of $ 260 million and said it will focus on three areas: school rebuilding, housing and infrastructure.

Japan will help in rebuilding 7,000-earthquake resilient schools destroyed by the earthquake in collaboration with Asian Development Bank, Japanese Minister Minoru Kiuchi said. 

Nepal also received additional pledges of $ 600 million from the Asian Development Bank, $ 130 million from the US, $ 100 million from the EU as well as an earlier announcement of up to $ 500 million from the World Bank. Nepal has said that it needs around $ 6.7 billion to recover from the disaster, which killed nearly 9 000 people and destroyed nearly half a million houses and left thousands in dire need of food, water and shelter.