Policy & Power
Nepal's six-month maternity leave bill puts private employers on notice
A bill to nearly double maternity leave and almost triple paternity leave would reach private payrolls, as Nepal responds to its weakest population growth in eight decades.
Sudurpaschim budget stalls again as ruling coalition turns on its own plan
Months into 2026/27, Nepal's far-western province still has no approved Rs 37.70bn budget, and the delay has disrupted administration and development work.
Nepal's nominees for India and China pitch an economic agenda to lawmakers
At their parliamentary hearings, Pandey and Sharma put investment, power trade, tourism and transit at the centre of their plans. Investors should weigh what was promised and what remains open.
Sudurpashchim tables Rs 37.7bn budget as Supreme Court refuses interim order
Days after one justice ordered the revision halted, a joint bench declined to block it. Nepal's far-western province now has a plan before its assembly, about 70% funded by Kathmandu, and a legal question still open.
Balen Shah courts business leaders as investigators detain some of them
The prime minister promises not to arrest entrepreneurs without cause. His finance minister is holding meetings of his own. Investors are watching both.
India's EU trade deal nears signature, and Nepal's export edge in Europe shrinks with it
Indian garments, carpets and pashmina are set to enter the EU duty-free from as early as 2027, wiping out the tariff margin that has kept Nepal's small European trade alive.
Nepal drafts a land bill to move landless families out of flood-prone areas
The draft amends five land laws, bars land grants on riverbanks and in forests, and promises resettlement. It follows a 2025 land bill that stalled amid objections from political parties.
A dispute over 25 recruiters puts Malaysia, a top job market for Nepalis, at risk
Malaysia wants hiring to run through a short list of Nepali agencies. Kathmandu has refused and stopped approving new demand letters through them, while about 400,000 Nepalis work there.
Nepal and the US move to extend the MCC compact by a year as its power line runs late
The first 18 km of the $550m US grant programme is built. The rest of the 315 km line is on contracts that run beyond the August 2028 deadline, so Kathmandu wants more time.
Nepal's public debt reaches 45% of GDP just as a Rs 723bn flood bill arrives
Debt has more than quadrupled in a decade to Rs 2.97 trillion. The government wants grants, not loans, to rebuild after the Rasuwa flood, but officials doubt grants will be enough.
A US paperwork rule stalls Nepal's carpet exports to their biggest market
Since 8 July, American importers must file safety certificates electronically at entry. Nepali exporters say they lack the facilities to comply and have asked for a year's grace.
Nepal's private schools win on a 3% levy but face a hard line on fees
The prime minister scrapped a proposed equity fee on private schools in July, months after his education ministry ordered refunds of fees charged beyond the legal limits.
Nepal's health insurer clears Rs 23bn of hospital bills, but only up to December
The Health Insurance Board paid hospitals Rs 23.44bn after private providers suspended services, yet claims since mid-December 2025 remain unfunded and a promised overhaul has no financing plan.
Bills to split Nepal's aviation regulator stall weeks before an EU deadline
The government wants off the EU air safety list by January 2027, but the two bills separating the regulator from the airport operator reached parliament only hours before it was prorogued.
LDC graduation: what Nepal's exporters stand to lose, and when
Nepal is due to leave the UN's least developed country group on 24 November and has asked to wait until 2029. Here is what changes in Europe, Britain and beyond, for whom, and on what timetable.
Nepal's Rs 2.12 trillion budget explained: the spending record it must beat, and a flood it did not plan for
Nepal's largest budget bets on tax reform and 7% growth, but the state spent less than half its capital allocation last year, and a Rs 559bn flood reconstruction plan now sits on top.
The electricity VAT has become the test of the government's tax resolve
Business wants the levy scrapped. Two ministries disagree in public about whether it will be. Behind the row lies a budget that needs revenue it is struggling to defend.
Nepal approves billions in foreign investment each year, but less than a third has ever arrived
Approvals fell for a second year in 2025/26 while actual inflows more than doubled, yet central bank data covering three decades show that most of the capital Nepal approves never crosses the border.
Burnt banknotes and arrest warrants: the money-laundering inquiries after September 9
Cash fragments in burned homes started a probe into three former prime ministers. The cases are moving slowly.