Weekly Summary
Across the week, Kathmandu Metropolitan City and the Home Ministry moved to address the fallout from the Ganesh Nepali self-immolation case, including citizenship for Ganesh’s wife and a 9-point agreement with relief and an independent investigation plan, though details were not specified on restrictions the family alleged. In governance and accountability, the Supreme Court and President Rabi Lamichhane brought attention to press freedom obstructing major media access and a ruling on government ads in private media, while business and public oversight included action against 159 manpower firms and sentencing tied to the Bhutanese refugee scam. Politically, the week closed with a reshuffle pressure point as Nepali Congress ministers resigned from the Karnali Provincial Government alongside Madhes plans to cut ministries to nine, while courts advanced rulings affecting future eligibility such as Madhukumar Chaulagai vs Nepal Rastra Bank.
Forex remained relatively stable over the week: USD/NPR moved within 152.83-154.46 (1.00% net change), starting at NPR 152.83 on Jul 12 and ending at NPR 154.36 on Jul 19; other major pairs traded in narrow ranges (CAD 107.96-110.00, AUD 106.26-108.11, GBP 204.91-208.61, JPY 9.45-9.52). Local fine gold showed a downtrend of NPR -3,100 per tola, ending at NPR 282,100; international gold closed near NPR 232,520 per tola; local silver remained downtrend around NPR 4,200; international silver closed near NPR 3,241.
