Nepal should be extremely cautious while accepting loans from China: Senior economist

"The Chinese side even insists that some projects should be implemented on the basis of China’s criteria," Bishwambhar Pyakuryal, a Nepalese economist, told Khabarhub.

"A country like Nepal should be extremely cautious while accepting loans from China," he said.

He made the remark at a time when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting Nepal.

Nepalese Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka and his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Saturday held delegation level talks after which they witnessed the signing and exchange of nine agreements and memorandums of understanding.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of the agreements is on a technical assistance scheme for the China-aided feasibility study of the cross-border railway.

Another is on economic and technical cooperation. Under the economic and technical cooperation, China will increase its annual assistance to Nepal from Rs 13 billion to Rs 15 billion and will finance some projects that will be mutually agreed upon between the two sides, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Another agreement is on cooperation on the feasibility study of China-Nepal Power Grid interconnection where China will finance the new alignment of the Ratamate-Rasuwagadhi- Kerung transmission line. Similarly, both sides have also signed a protocol on the safety and health conditions of haylage (stored forage) export from Nepal to China.

Another agreement is about providing 98 percent duty free treatment to Nepalese goods in China. The Chinese side has handed over the certificate of Araniko highway maintenance project phase III to Nepal.

Both sides have also approved the minutes of the 7th meeting, held in January, on enhancing cooperation in the railway sector which took place in January 2022 in a virtual mode.