15 September, 2017
Acting CEO Jonathan Nash was joined by Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan as the compact was signed with Nepali Minister of Finance Gyanendra Bahadur Karki.
An agreement related to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact programme aimed at Nepal's economic development and eradication of poverty was signed amidst a function held in Washington DC on Thursday.
Nepal plans to spend the grant in road improvement and transmission line extension. "Also, upgradation of major highways will be the lifeline for country's economic development".
The Nepal government will contribute an additional United States dollars 130 million to support the compact investment - the single largest up-front country contribution in MCC's history.
All projects under the MCC's compact programme must be completed exactly after five years of their implementation date.
He added that the government remained committed in implementing the agreement alongside the institutional development of Nepal's democratic process.
The MCC had selected Nepal for a smaller threshold programme in December of 2011.
Likewise, the MoU, also named as MCC Nepal Compact, is expected to lend substantial support to the reduction of poverty and construction of physical infrastructures in Nepal. Given Nepal's strong performance in its MCC policy indicator scorecard through 2014, MCC's board of directors selected Nepal as being eligible to develop a compact, a larger grant-based investment, under which the country is going to mobilise the U.S. grant. "MCC's investments will also support regional energy connectivity in South Asia by strengthening Nepal's power sector and facilitating electricity trade with India".
A version of this article appears in print on September 15, 2017 of The Himalayan Times.
