KATHMANDU: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel held a courtesy meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief, Sarwat Jahan.

According to the Finance Minister’s Secretariat, the meeting held today at the Ministry of Finance discussed topics including the sixth review of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and structural reforms.

Due to declining foreign exchange reserves and a severely weakened balance of payments, Nepal had sought the ECF support in 2022, securing USD 395.9 million under the facility.

This amount is equivalent to 180 percent of Nepal’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) quota. The IMF provided the loan in multiple tranches over a four-year period to support budget financing.

The IMF mission team is currently in Nepal to conduct the sixth review of this credit facility.