ADB provides budget aupport loan to Nepal after earthquakes

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved the release of a loan of about $27.5 million equivalent which the Government of Nepal will use for budget support as the country recovers from the devastating earthquakes in April and May 2015, reports The Financial.

According to the report, the earthquakes, which are estimated to have caused damages and losses of about $7 billion, or nearly a third of gross domestic product, have set back Nepal’s efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for poverty reduction, with as many as 982,000 more people seen falling below the poverty line as a result. Loss of incomes, livelihoods, housing, and some social services are also expected to result in slower progress towards other MDG targets. The bulk of the more than 8 million people affected by the earthquakes live in rural areas.

"This loan will bolster the government’s finances at a time its revenues have been badly affected by the economic losses caused by the earthquakes,” said Mayumi Ozaki, Financial Sector Specialist (Rural and Microfinance), in ADB’s South Asia Department.