Weekly Summary
A week of shifting political alignments and tighter parliamentary pressure centered on Lumbini’s vote of confidence as Jaspa Nepal directed lawmakers to vote against Chief Minister Chetan Narayan Acharya and Speaker Dor Prasad Aryal ordered PM Balendra Shah to appear in Parliament. Accountability and legal scrutiny developed across multiple fronts, including a government chargesheet involving Smart Cell tied to an alleged collateral auction under Nepal Rastra Bank pressure, the Supreme Court annulment of Pradeep Kumar Shrestha’s role at Nepal Airlines Corporation, and bail granted to NIMB CEO Jyoti Prakash Pandey in the Smart Telecom collateral-linked case. Economic governance and public welfare also dominated, from cabinet-approved pay increases and revenue updates to El Niño preparation measures like reservoir upgrades and drought monitoring and justice-linked community negotiations after Garima Chaudhary’s murder.
Forex remained relatively stable over the week: USD/NPR moved within 152.84-153.51 (0.38% net change), starting at NPR 152.84 on Aug 16 and ending at NPR 153.42 on Aug 23; other major pairs traded in narrow ranges (CAD 109.68-111.61, AUD 107.97-109.89, GBP 206.57-209.55, JPY 9.60-9.69). international gold closed near NPR 264,958 per tola; international silver closed near NPR 3,972.
