Weekly Summary
Across the week, Bagmati Province politics intensified as CPN-UML withdrew from the Bagmati provincial government, triggering a vote of confidence requirement within 30 days and following the resignation of six UML ministers. National governance shifted alongside tax and accountability moves, including dropping the 3% tax on education and health and a crackdown on 200,000 illegal online betting apps, while the week also featured sector coordination efforts and disaster preparedness directives such as local office attendance for disaster readiness. Accountability and legal scrutiny continued through investigations and court actions, including CIAA investigations into alleged Kailali timber smuggling, arrests in alleged corruption cases like Anupama Dhakal and Tulakant Chaudhary, and reactions to a Supreme Court ruling on newspaper advertisement restrictions.
Forex remained relatively stable over the week: USD/NPR moved within 154.28-154.81 (0.29% net change), starting at NPR 154.36 on Jul 19 and ending at NPR 154.81 on Jul 26; other major pairs traded in narrow ranges (CAD 109.76-110.20, AUD 107.78-108.37, GBP 207.00-208.13, JPY 9.48-9.52). international gold closed near NPR 239,346 per tola; international silver closed near NPR 3,466.
