MCC Compact should be implemented as early as possible: Minister Sharma

KATHMANDU: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact should be implemented as early as possible. A virtual meeting chaired by Minister Sharma was held among Jonathan Brooks, Deputy Vice President of Europe, Asia, Pacific, and Latin America for MCC Compact Operations; Sanjay Poudyal, MCC Deputy Country Director for Nepal; Rojee Kattel, Political Specialist at US Embassy Kathmandu, and representatives of Finance Ministry on Monday evening. Although the duration for the implementation of the MCC Compact has been set for one year, it is not suitable to wait for the whole year to implement it. He also urged the MCC Compact Operations to make preparation in this regard. This was the first meeting between the finance minister and MCC after the parliament endorsed the compact. Although there was a problem while endorsing the MCC compact, there will not be any problems while implementing it, Minister Sharma expressed his commitment. He was confident that the general public has now understood that MCC is an economic compact. He stressed the need to take forward the compact as soon as possible. The government clearly understands that MCC is purely an economic compact, however, there were various reasons behind the politicisation of the issue, Minister Sharma said. Further, he expressed his belief that the implementation of the compact would help in the economic development of the country. During the virtual meeting, Deputy Vice President Brooks said the MCC compact will help to take forward Nepal's economy in the right direction. He lauded Minister Sharma's role in the endorsement of the compact. Brooks thanked Minister Sharma for that and expressed his commitment to taking forward the process depending on the preparation made by Nepal side. On behalf of MCC, Brooks suggested making a time frame for the implementation of the compact. READ ALSO:

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