MCC board meeting reviews Nepal’s progress on MCC Compact

KATHMANDU: The board meeting of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US grant aid program, has reviewed Nepal’s progress.

The board meeting of MCC held on Wednesday discussed the progress of the MCC-Nepal Compact so far. A statement issued after the quarterly board meeting reviewed the Government of Nepal’s commitment to approve 500 million USD in grants in the near future.

Recently, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba instructed Minister for Communications Gyanendra Bahadur Karki as well as Pushpa Bhusal to prepare for the discussions of MCC in the parliament.

As Nepal had delayed in acceptance of the MCC’s five-year grant program, the MCC was expected to rescind its decision to provide assistance to Nepal. However, the MCC Board seems to be optimistic that the Government of Nepal will accept the grant assistance as no decision has been taken yet.

The MCC board meeting has also decided to select Belize and Zambia for a five-year grant assistance program. Mahmoud Bah, acting chief executive officer of the MCC said, “I am delighted to announce our support for Belize and Zambia. We look forward to working together to reduce poverty and make sustainable and inclusive economic growth successful. ”

The MCC has re-selected countries including Indonesia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Timor for development programs.