Biswo Poudel Appointed Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank

The government has appointed economist Biswo Poudel as the new Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), ending a six-week vacancy at the helm of the central bank.

Poudel was selected during a meeting of the Council of Ministers on the evening of May 20, just hours after the Governor Recommendation Committee submitted a shortlist of three candidates.

Alongside Poudel, the committee had recommended Neelam Dhungana Timilsina, Acting Governor of NRB, and former secretary Dinesh Bhattarai for the top post. However, high-level political consensus reportedly favored Poudel. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba reportedly reached an agreement earlier in the day to support Poudel’s appointment.

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Notably, Poudel had previously served as a member of the Governor Recommendation Committee but resigned upon receiving strong assurances of being appointed, raising concerns about the transparency of the selection process.

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In his remarks following his appointment, Poudel said his immediate priority will be enhancing regulatory oversight and supporting the government's efforts to remove Nepal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list.

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Speaking to Arthik Abhiyan, the sister publication of New Business Age, Poudel emphasized his commitment to strengthening financial supervision and compliance. “Our focus will be on effective oversight. We will work in coordination with the government to ensure that Nepal meets international standards and exits the FATF grey list,” he said.

Poudel also addressed questions regarding his political background.

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In the 2022 general election, he had contested a seat in the House of Representatives from Chitwan-1 under the Nepali Congress banner, but lost to Hari Dhakal of the Rastriya Swatantra Party. Dhakal defeated both Poudel and former finance minister Surendra Pandey.

Despite his political involvement and close affiliations with the Nepali Congress, Poudel asserted that his role as governor will remain apolitical. “Just because I ran in an election does not mean I will allow political influence to affect my decisions,” he said.

The position of NRB Governor had remained vacant since Maha Prasad Adhikari’s retirement more than six weeks ago.

The recommendation committee was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel and included former Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari and economist Dr. Poshraj Pandey. Initially formed in March, the committee underwent two rounds of restructuring before finalizing its recommendations.

This news has been updated to add Poudel remarks after his appointment.

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