KATHMANDU – India has announced an increase in its financial aid to Nepal.
Presenting the union budget for fiscal year 2021-22 in the Indian parliament, Indian Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman announced an increase of financial assistance by 1.89 billion Indian rupees to Nepal in the upcoming fiscal year.
The budget allocated as financial assistance to Nepal is nearly a jump by Rs 3.02 billion compared to the current fiscal year 2020/21.
With the announcement, the Indian aid to Nepal will grow to 9.92 billion Indian rupees in the upcoming fiscal year compared to an allocation of 8 billion Indian rupees in the current fiscal year 2020-21.
However, India has slashed the allocation of the assistance to Nepal in the last fiscal year 2020/21 to 8 billion Indian rupees from 11.96 billion Indian rupees in the previous fiscal year 2019/20.
The financial assistance is channelized through Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
Some interpret the increase in the aid as an indication of the southern neighbor to improve its ties with Nepal.
As always, Bhutan topped the list of aid recipient countries with highest allocation of financial assistance in the upcoming fiscal year.
