The World Bank (WB) pledged a grant of US$32 million to finance construction of essential road infrastructure in rural areas of Nepal. This is expected to address one of the country's main constraints to economic growth and poverty reduction: the poor access to markets and services needed by residents in remote, rural and hilly areas of the country, states a press release issued by the Bank."Access to services and economic opportunities have been among the top casualties of Nepal's ongoing conflict, especially in the remote rural hinterlands," the release states quoting Kenichi Ohashi, World Bank Country Director for Nepal.