Kathmandu – Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle and World Bank Group President Ajay Banga held a high-level bilateral meeting.
Minister Wagle, who travelled to the United States leading a delegation at the World Bank president’s invitation, met Banga in Washington, DC.
During the meeting, Minister Wagle discussed rebuilding the physical and economic infrastructure damaged by the recent flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa, macroeconomic reform, and mobilising resources worth about US$1 billion for insurance and social protection, according to the minister’s private secretariat.
Expressing sadness over the damage from the flood disaster in Nepal, Banga committed the World Bank to providing significant support in reconstruction.
Praising the steps the new government has taken for policy and institutional reform, he stressed the need to expand investment in infrastructure and create jobs within the country.
Banga said the World Bank would take a new initiative to expand joint investment in Nepal’s priority sectors by coordinating with development partners including the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation.
According to David Sislen, the World Bank’s country director for Nepal, this is the first direct bilateral meeting between a World Bank president and a Nepali finance minister in the past three decades.
Senior officials, including World Bank vice presidents Johannes Zutt and Junaid Ahmad, took part in the meeting.
