ADB Expands Support for Nepal’s Access to Finance Project

The Asian Development Bank will expand its assistance for an ongoing program in Nepal that seeks to help poor and isolated rural villages get access to financial and credit services. The bank’s board of directors approved June 18 a USD60.4 million loan and a USD12.1 million grant to support the second phase of Nepal’s Rural Finance Sector Development Cluster Program.

The second phase of the project will include a series of policy and institutional reforms in the country’s Agricultural Development Bank and Small Farmers Development Bank. The reforms are designed to transform rural financial institutions in remote regions of Nepal into viable middle parties for financial services for the poor.