Kathmandu, Feb 23: Members of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives have demanded the government make public expenditures under the USAID programmes in Nepal. Speaking at the Committee meeting on Sunday, lawmaker Ganga Karki voiced that the government should unveil the details of expenditures when US President Donald Trump has been accused of ‘fraud’ in the aid implementation.
Through an unofficial channel, it has been learnt that the fund was spent through the Natural Resources and Finance Commission and the Commission should address the concern. Gyanendra Bahadur Karki called for understating in what context the US President cited the ‘fraud’.
He went on to say that the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact was signed during his term as the Finance Minister and it was endorsed by the parliament. Karki also stressed the need to conclude the bills that are under discussion in the Finance Committee.
Surya Bahadur Thapa Chhetri was of the view that the statement by the US President should be discussed in the House not in the Committee as this is a parliamentary issue.
The details of expenditures under the USAID could be sought from the Ministry of Finance, he proposed. He also said that the commencement of the committee meeting exceeds the timeline and it generally focused on discussions outside the agenda, making its presence less effective. (RSS)
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