Nepal Finance Minister seeks India’s help in setting up infrastructure bank

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley held a bilateral meeting with his Nepalese counterpart Bishnu Prasad Paudel in New Delhi. They discussed the developments in Nepal’s post-earthquake reconstruction phase being supported by the Government of India. The Finance Minister Jaitley encouraged Nepal to finalize its reconstruction programme at the earliest to better utilize the USD 1 billion Government of India pledge. Jaitley further expressed hope that Indian investors in the public and private sector will show interest across all sectors in Nepal especially power, healthcare and road construction. The Nepalese Finance Minister, stressed on the long history of shared economic co-operation between the two countries and thanked India for the tremendous assistance extended by Government of India to Nepal in its hour of need. Paudel informed that Nepal is planning to establish a special infrastructure development bank and sought India’s help in this regard. The meeting ended with both the Finance Ministers expressing hope that the co-operation between the two countries will be further strengthened during the upcoming State visit of the Prime Minister of Nepal K.P.S.Oli in February 2016.