The European Union (EU) has provided the first tranche of financial assistance worth Rs 6 billion to Nepal under the Nepal-EU Action for Recovery and Reconstruction (NEARR) budget support programme. The financial assistance comes as a delivery on the pledge made by EU Commissioner Neven Mimica in June 2015 during his visit to the country for the International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction to substantially support the start-up phase of the recovery.

“As reconstruction efforts are now being rolled out, scaled up funding is needed to accelerate the momentum to rebuild. The Rs 6 billion (50 million euros) is an important contribution through Nepal’s treasury during the start-up phase of the PDRF,” the EU said in a statement.

According to the statement, the EU will provide another Rs6 billion in a second phase later in the year, based on the progress made in accelerating reconstruction through PDRF implementation, including transfer of the first tranche of the housing grant to at least 200,000 households. “All stakeholders now need to rigorously focus determination, skills and energy on implementing the PDRF to rebuild houses, schools and other infrastructure,” said EU Ambassador to Nepal Rensje Teerink in the statement. “This is the moment to create more

resilient, inclusive and prosperous communities in an accountable, transparent and sensitive way, and to inject more dynamism into Nepal’s economy.”

The NEARR action is based on an agreement signed in April 2016 with the government of Nepal and constitutes the EU’s main response to the rehabilitation and reconstruction needs. NEARR combines Rs12 billion (100 million euros) budget support with Rs 600 million (5 million euros) complementary measures. The budget support helps the government with resources to ease the fiscal pressure caused by the earthquakes.

“The EU expects Nepal to seize this opportunity and counts on the leadership of the National Reconstruction Authority. Implementation means action. We expect the Government to adhere to the jointly agreed objectives and processes, in particular ensuring building back better in the housing sector. We will closely monitor the progress achieved prior to disbursing our future contribution,’’ said Ambassador Teerink.