Country facing resource crunch: Finance Minister

Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada has said that internal resources were insufficient for the country’s development.

Addressing a programme organized by Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers of State No 1 in Biratnagar on Friday, the Finance Minister said that foreign assistance was needed to meet the people’s expectations.

Dr Khatiwada shared that both the internal and external resources were being sought to ensure better public service delivery from all three layers of governments in the federal set up and added that foreign assistance would be used for infrastructure development and to uplift people’s livelihood.

The foreign assistance would be mobilized for physical infrastructure development, he said, adding that such assistance would contribute to quality education, health care as well as better access to technology, capacity development and knowledge.

On the occasion, Chief Minister of State No. 1 Sherdhan Rai viewed that the foreign assistance would support in the implementation of constitution and federalism. He said that coordination among all three layers of governments was taking place in the implementation of federalism.

Also speaking at the programme, Swiss Ambassador to Nepal Elisabeth von Capeller pledged Swiss support for Nepal’s socio-economic development.

During the programme, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Government of Nepal and Government of Switzerland for the implementation of programmes in State No. 1 for four years. As per the agreement, the Swiss government would provide Rs 1 billion in assistance for implementing programmes in the State.