KATHMANDU, March 16: Bringing down the curtain on various speculations and rumors, the recommendations committee led by Minister for Finance Ram Sharan Mahat has picked three candidates for new governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).
According to a reliable source at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the recommendations committee selected former finance secretary Yuba Raj Bhusal, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s Economic Advisor Chiranjibi Nepal and current NRB Deputy Governor Gopal Prasad Kaphle as candidates for new NRB governor.
The panel recommended former finance secretary Bhusal as the first in the list of candidates while Nepal and Kaphle have been listed second and third respectively.
The meeting of the recommendations committee held on Sunday took a decision to this effect. The decision will now be presented at the cabinet meeting for picking one among them as the new governor.
The new governor will replace the incumbent, Yuba Raj Khatiwada, who is taking retirement on Thursday after completing his five-year tenure. The next meeting of the cabinet is set to decide the name of the new governor.
The cabinet meeting held on February 24 had formed a three-member recommendations committee under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Mahat. First NRB governor Himalaya Shumsher JB Rana and economist and former NRB board member Parthibeshwar Prasad Timilsina are the other members of the recommendations committee.
The cabinet formed the committee as per the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2002 which states that the Council of Ministers shall appoint the NRB Governor from among the names selected by the recommendations committee.
The governorship of the NRB is a coveted post as the central bank acts as chief economic advisor to the government apart from setting the monetary policy for supporting the fiscal policy of the government.
Candidates at glance
Yuba Raj Bhusal
Former finance secretary Bhusal earned a gold medal in Development Economy from Thailand-based Asian Institute of Technology. Before retiring as secretary at MoF where he worked for nearly four months till July last year, he had served as secretary of the National Planning Commission for three years. He was also a joint-secretary at MoF for four years.
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He is currently senior director of Nepal Administrative Staff College. He has a 32-year experience of working in the civil service, including a four-year term as joint-secretary at MoF. With close family ties with Nepali Congress Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel, Bhusal is said to be a strong candidate for the post of governor. Bhusal is one of the very few ex-bureaucrats who has never been dragged into any controversy during his time in the civil service.
Chiranjibi Nepal
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s Economic Advisor Nepal was economic advisor at the Ministry of Finance under the erstwhile Khila Raj Regmi-led government. Economist Nepal is considered to have a good understanding on Nepal’s fiscal and monetary policies. He had also served as chief advisor to the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).
Nepal has a PhD in labor relations and economics and also has experience of teaching in various colleges, including at Kathmandu University. He was chairman of the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) from 2007 to 2009. Given his political rapport with the Nepali Congress, he is seen to be a better bet for the main ruling party. However, he has already held seven political appointments in the past.
Gopal Prasad Kaphle
Kaphle has been serving as Deputy Governor of NRB since December 2010. Prior to becoming deputy governor, Kaphle was heading the Microfinance Department of NRB as its executive director. After joining NRB in 1982 as a third class officer, Kafle worked at and led various departments, including the bank supervision department and training and public debt management, among others.
He holds a Masters degree in International Economics from the Tribhuvan University and a Master’s degree -- Monetary Economics and Finance -- from the University of New England, Australia. Though Kafle has been picked as one of the candidates due to the NRB Act, which requires the committee to recommend a deputy governor while making recommendations, observers say his chances of becoming governor in the tight political race are slim.
