Finance Secretary Dr. Ram Prasad Ghimire, while announcing the government’s official position on Nepal’s sovereign credit rating on November 22, expressed his gratitude to three individuals from Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd. (SCBNL) who were involved in the ratings process — Serene Khatiwada, Songqi Li and Karby Legget. SCBNL was appointed by the government as its sole advisor for this historic rating.

As Head of Corporate Affairs and Brand & Marketing at SCBNL, Khatiwada oversees the bank's Corporate Affairs and Brand (H-CABM). He has also been serving as the Resident Economist of SCBNL since his previous role as the Business Planning Manager to the CEO. Serene joined SCBNL in June 2019 and assumed the position of H-CABM in April 2024. Serene specialises in macroeconomics and econometrics and thus his involvement in the rating process was a natural extension of his qualifications. He holds an MSc in Economics from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (Reserve Bank of India) and previously worked at PwC India where he had been engaged in economic advisory.

After the rating was finalised, Khatiwada shared his thoughts in a LinkedIn post: "The privilege of being part of this process was nothing short of phenomenal. Applying economic concepts, econometric techniques, and being entrusted with analysis I have trained for over the years — especially for Nepal’s historic debut rating — was an absolute honor."