Weekly Summary
Across the week, national political coordination and foreign engagement moved forward, including Prime Minister Balendra Shah meeting the Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Prime Minister Balendra Shah meeting the Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming, alongside momentum to expand governance capacity through Karnali Province’s Cabinet expansion discussions and a new Sudurpaschim Province Chief Minister Khagraj Bhatta oath on 3 PM. Accountability and legal scrutiny featured prominently with CIAA initiating an asset investigation into two former Prime Ministers’ private secretaries and court actions including the Supreme Court interim order on Nepal Scouts term limits, while allegations and escalation threats centered on Dr. Govinda K.C. alleging collusion and warning of a potential restart of his 24th hunger strike. Disaster response and public service pressures remained central, as rescue and relief efforts expanded after Rolpa’s Thabang landslide killing 10 and leaving 3 missing and relief coordination intensified following Mangala Bahadur Shahi directing agencies over Jajarkot landslide and flood impacts.
Forex remained relatively stable over the week: USD/NPR moved within 152.64-153.01 (0.23% net change), starting at NPR 152.64 on Aug 09 and ending at NPR 152.99 on Aug 16; other major pairs traded in narrow ranges (CAD 108.88-110.15, AUD 107.46-108.24, GBP 205.16-206.92, JPY 9.60-9.67). international gold closed near NPR 251,086 per tola; international silver closed near NPR 3,714.
