Kathmandu. Kathmandu: The government has appointed economist Dr Bishwa Poudel as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank( NRB).
A meeting of the Council of Ministers held at Baluwatar today decided to appoint Poudel as the governor of the central bank. Earlier, a meeting of the Governor’s Recommendation Committee held today had recommended the names of Poudel, Deputy Governor Neelam Dhungana Timsina and former Finance Secretary Dinesh Bhattarai to the Council of Ministers.
The governor’s post was lying vacant after Maha Prasad Adhikari took compulsory retirement on April 14. Neelam Dhungana Timsina is in the role of acting governor until the governor is appointed.
There was a provision to appoint a new governor a month before the end of the governor’s term. However, the government could not appoint the governor on time due to lack of political division. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) governor has been appointed after an agreement was reached between the ruling CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress after a month and a half.
Bishwa Poudel has finally won the election from the time he aspired to become governor. He has become the 18th Governor.
Earlier, nc was in the race to appoint Dr Gunakar Bhatta as executive director of Rastra Bank and UML deputy governor Neelam Dhungana Timsina as governor. However, Prime Minister Oli has agreed to appoint Poudel as the governor after Deuba’s stand.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court has also given a green signal to Poudel to become governor today. A single bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla upheld the apex administration’s order to dismiss a writ petition to prevent Poudel from becoming governor. With this, the way has been opened for Poudel to become governor. Advocates Pratibha Upreti and Bishal Thapa had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against Poudel’s appointment as governor.
Poudel, who holds a PhD in economics from the US, has served as economic adviser at the Ministry of Finance, vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission and economic advisor to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Poudel was elected to the House of Representatives from Chitwan constituency-1 in 2017. But he was defeated.
Poudel also taught at the School of Management, Kathmandu University.
