Kathmandu, Feb. 23: Members of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) have demanded the government to make public expenditures under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programmes in Nepal.

In Sunday’s meeting of the Finance Committee, lawmaker Ganga Karki said that US President Donald Trump had called the USAID expenditure in Nepal a fraud and suggested that the government should clarify where and how the money was spent.

“The US President himself has called the amount provided by the US through USAID for Nepal's financial federalism a fraud. Informally, it has been learned that the amount was spent through the National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission (NNRFC). The clarification should be sought from the NNRFC regarding this issue,” said MP Karki.

MP Gyanendra Bahadur Karki argued that it should be understood that in what context the US President calls USAID’s aid a fraud. He also raised the issue of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant being signed when he was the Finance Minister and that it was passed by all parties in Parliament. He emphasized the need for early discussions and finalization of the bills currently under discussion in the Finance Committee.

MP Surya Bahadur Thapa said that the issues raised by the US President should be discussed in Parliament and not in the committee. 

“There is no need to discuss the issues raised by Trump here. This is a matter for Parliament rather than a committee,” he said. “We can request details from the Ministry of Finance about the period in which the USAID spent the money and on what program it was spent. Let's write a letter about this and request details from the ministry.”

Additionally, he also raised the issue of the Finance Committee meeting being held later than the scheduled time, the excessive discussion on issues outside the agenda, and the low effectiveness of the committee's work.