Nepal says it needs $6.6 bln for post-quake rebuilding ‎

The government of Nepal is planning to ask some $6.6 billion from international donors over 5 years to help rebuild the nation following the devastating earthquakes.  In a Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report released on Saturday, the government noted that losses to the economy from Nepal's April 25 and May 12 quakes stand at $7 billion, including from tourism. The two quakes killed 8,787 people and destroyed more than 500,000 homes, affecting 2.8 million of the Himalayan nation's 28 million people.  Suman Prasad Sharma, a senior finance ministry official, said 36 countries and 24 donor agencies had been invited to a conference on June 25 to pledge support for reconstruction. Speaking at a function in Kathmandu, Sharma said they expect a good response from their donors.

Currently, Nepal gets two-thirds of the cost of its economic development in international aid. Government officials said some donors who cannot pledge more aid could still help Nepal by writing off debt the country owes or delaying repayment schedules.  

Nepal does not have commercial borrowings from international lending agencies. Concessional loans mainly from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank account for 18 percent of Nepal's gross

domestic product, according to the officials. The government spends $300 million in debt repayment every year.  Local donors say post-disaster reconstruction must be more accountable in a country that ranked 126 of 176 nations surveyed in Transparency International's corruption perception index in 2014, compared with 116 a year earlier.

Nepal's annual economic growth is expected to slow down to 3.04 percent, the lowest in eight years, from 4.6 percent estimated earlier, according to its statistics bureau, due to the impact of the earthquakes on tourism and infrastructure. 

One in every four Nepalis lives on a daily income of less than $1.25.   The quakes have also set back Nepal's efforts to fight poverty by increasing the number of poor by 700,000 to 7.78 million, according to Govind Raj Pokharel, vice chairman of the National Planning Commission.  (Source: Reuters)