Kathmandu, Feb. 20 -- The Trump administration's decision on January 20 to pause all US foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and the USAID, along with the recent halt in Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) payments, has sent ripples across the world, with Nepal feeling the impact particularly hard.

Initially, only aid from the USAID and State Department was suspended, according to the department. But the decision to freeze MCC disbursements was not publicly disclosed at the time.

On Tuesday evening, Nepal's Ministry of Finance issued a statement stating that the MCC had notified the Nepal government that payments related to activities funded under the Nepal Compact have been halted, in compliance with a 90-day...