The United Kingdom has pledged a grant worth 23.5 million pounds (Rs 3.73 billion) to Nepal for access to Finance for the Poor Program. Madhu Kumar Marasini, joint secretary of the Ministry of Finance, and Philip Smith, Acting Head of the Department for International Development (DFID), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the aid on behalf of the government and the DFID respectively on Monday June 9, 2014. The Finance Ministry noted that the objectives of the program are to improve access to finance for microenterprises and small farmers, mainly through microfinance institutions.