One economy, two playbooks: What the PM and Finance Minister’s separate outreach reveals about Nepal’s economy
Summary
Nepal’s economy is being propped up by surging remittances and large foreign exchange reserves even as its trade deficit, public debt and debt-servicing burden keep rising. Separate outreach by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister has also exposed coordination problems in economic policymaking.
Key Points
- Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle met commercial bank CEOs and Nepal Rastra Bank officials to push financial sector reforms and better coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities.
- Prime Minister Balen Shah held separate consultations with business leaders, reinforcing concerns about uncoordinated economic policymaking inside the government.
- Nepal’s trade deficit reached nearly Rs 1.78 trillion in fiscal year 2025/26, with imports far outpacing exports and trade heavily dependent on India.
- Remittance inflows, public debt and the new record budget are central to the article’s warning that Nepal’s external stability is masking deeper structural weaknesses.
