Foreign Aid utilisation at the Grassroots Level: A Case study of Local Development Fund
Author: Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), Kathmandu
Source: South Asia Network of Economic Research Institute (SANEI)
In support of poverty alleviation programme, donors have been providing a substantial amount of external assistance to Nepal over the years. The per-capita foreign aid disbursement reached 18 US dollar in 1999 with loan assistance exceeding over grant. The country’s total outstanding foreign loan hovered around 49 percent of GDP as of 1999. With the ballooning total foreign debt, the per-capital debt burden on Nepalis has also surged considerably in recent years. It has touched Rs.7,876, which is almost 50 percent of the estimated per-capita income. The article explains that despite the inflow of huge foreign aid, poverty showed no sign of improvement. Foreign aid has either failed to address the poverty issue or it has not yet reached the intended beneficiaries.
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