AFP. 10 January 2002. Only a third of total foreign aid enters Nepal: expert.
KATHMANDU -- An economist Thursday claimed that only a third of the aid given to Nepal actually entered the kingdom. "Out of the total amount of budget the donor countries commit to provide to Nepal, which is one of the least developed countries in the world, only 34 percent arrives," Bishowmbhar Pyakurel, an economics professor at Tribhuvan University told a meeting organised by the Nepal Forum of Environment Journalists here. "The money said to be donated to Nepal on paper actually does not see the development works carried out in Nepal," he said. But Pyakurel did not spell out where the rest of the money went. "They (the donor agencies) launch different programmes in Nepal as a means to help the foreign consultants earn dollars," he claimed. He urged the government to raise questions about the whereabouts of the rest of the money in international forums. "Transparency should start from the international level," Pyakurel said. He also said the donor countries used aid for other sectors than in those areas prioritized by the government. "In my studies, the Nepalese government has been able to achieve less than 50 percent of its goal as its priority and the donor agencies are different in most of the cases," Pyakurel said. Some 70 percent of Nepal's budget for development comes from donations. However, the government does not make the exact amount of foreign donations public. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
