Nepal Weekly - 2026-03-25

Mar 25, 2026

Nepal business, finance and trade news, every Wednesday.

city near mountain — Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash

From Rap Bars to Rebar

Balendra Shah, the 35-year-old former rapper who once soundtracked Kathmandu's streets, takes the oath as the country's youngest prime minister on 27th March. His Rastriya Swatantra Party swept 182 of 275 parliamentary seats in the March 5 election, six months after Gen Z protests brought down K.P. Sharma Oli's government over a social media ban that sparked outrage across the country. Shah defeated Oli in the veteran's home turf of Jhapa-5, winning by nearly 50,000 votes. It's a remarkable rise for a structural engineer turned mayor turned national leader, carried by a wave of youth anger over corruption and a political class that kept recycling the same septuagenarians through the PM's office. The harder part starts now. Shah inherits an economy that heavily reliant on remittances with youth unemployment pushing millions abroad. He has promised visible anti-corruption measures, but whether the administrator who cleared Kathmandu's streets can navigate national politics remains very much an open question.

Read more: The Week (youth MP stats), The Himalayan Times (oath timeline), CIVICUS Lens (protest background), Gulf News (election results), Deccan Herald (geopolitical implications)

New Broom's Old Baggage Lands in Court

The Supreme Court of Nepal is hearing a challenge to the Attorney General's decision to drop organized crime and money laundering charges against RSP chair Rabi Lamichhane, who faces fraud allegations tied to 1.51 billion rupees (about $10 million) allegedly taken from cooperatives. Justices Binod Sharma and Abdul Aziz Musalman will resume the hearing on Thursday after advocates filed writs against Attorney General Sabita Bhandari Baral's January decision to withdraw the charges. The case has already shifted twice. Baral first amended only Lamichhane's charge sheet, then extended the amnesty to all co-defendants two days later. Lamichhane, who is out on 6.5 million rupees ($43,000) bail, no longer has to appear monthly at Kaski District Court. The timing is awkward for a party on the verge of leading the incoming government.

Read more: Khabarhub (justices named), Ratopati (bail details), myRepublica (charge sheet amendment)

Baking Soda and Helicopter Bills

Prosecutors charged 32 people on Sunday in a scheme which trekking agencies, helicopter operators, and hospitals allegedly poisoned tourists with baking soda to fake altitude sickness, then billed insurers $19.69 million for phantom evacuations. Guides reportedly laced food to make trekkers violently ill, forced them onto helicopters, then forged medical and flight documents to split the insurance payouts with cooperating hospitals. But the alleged mastermind, Rajendra Bahadur Singh of Mountain Helicopter, was not charged. The District Attorney's Office said there was "no evidence" linking him to the crimes, even though police had identified him as the ringleader. The investigation report sat at the Attorney's Office for a week amid what critics describe as external pressure. Major international insurers including Travellers Assists have already stopped selling policies for Nepal.

Read more: OCCRP (dollar amounts), Ratopati (mastermind not charged), myRepublica (six-year history)

India and China Reopen a Pass Nepal Says Is Theirs

India and China are moving to restart border trade through the Lipulekh Pass this year after a six-year break, and Kathmandu isn't happy about it. The pass sits in territory Nepal claims as its own, a dispute that was formalized when K.P. Oli's government released new political map in 2020 and later amended the constitution to include Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani. Indian officials in Uttarakhand say preparations are underway for the annual June-to-September trading season, following clearance from New Delhi. RSP has strongly condemned the India-China move last year, calling Lipulekh sovereign Nepali territory under the 1816 Sugauli Treaty. The pass remains under Indian control, and the incoming government will have to figure out how to square its campaign rhetoric with diplomatic reality.

Read more: myRepublica (RSP diplomatic pressure), The Kathmandu Post (district official confirmation)

Iran War Cooks the Economy

Middle East tensions are hitting Nepal through four channels at once - fuel shortages, stranded migrant workers, disrupted tourism flights, and rising cooking gas prices. The most visible shift is happening in kitchens. Importers brought in nearly 148,000 electric stoves in the first eight months of this fiscal year, a jump of more than 50%, as consumers scramble to replace scarce LPG. The government is considering an odd-even vehicle rationing system to cut fuel consumption, though no decision has been made. Crude oil is hovering at $102 a barrel. Hotels and restaurants are feeling the squeeze the most, burning through roughly a third of the country's 45,000-tonne monthly LPG demand. The Hotel Association is pushing for concessional electricity rates of around Rs 6-7 per unit ($0.04-0.05) down from the current Rs 15 ($0.10).

Read more: Nikkei Asia (stranded workers), Desh Sanchar (import figures), Spotlight Nepal (rationing plan), The Kathmandu Post (hotel sector)

Kathmandu's Bourse Bets Big on Balen

The stock exchange rose almost 80 points, about 2.8%, over two sessions last week as investors piled back in after the election. The rally follows after a brutal stretch for government coffers. Capital gains tax collections fell by almost half to Rs 6.44 billion ($43 million) over the first eight months of this fiscal year, with trading volumes down nearly 30% as political uncertainty kept money on the sidelines. Microfinance stocks led the post-election bounce with a 4.2% gain, and turnover hit Rs 23.59 billion ($157 million) in Sunday's session alone. The market is betting on Balen, but capital gains tax is still running at about half of last year's total. there is a Lot of ground to recover.

Read more: The Himalayan Times (Sunday session), The Annapurna Express (Tuesday close), myRepublica (tax figures)

Graduating to Harder Terms

Exiting Least Developed Country status could cost 132,000 jobs and $1 billion in lost trade preferences. The strain is already showing at the Nepalgunj Customs Office, a key crossing point with India which has collected just 52% of its Rs 24.54 billion ($163 million) revenue target by mid-March. That leaves nearly half the target to be met in just the final four months of the fiscal year. Revenue has fallen short of its monthly target every single month, ranging between 69% and 88% of what was expected. The Integrated Check Post at Jamunaha was expected to ease this situation by boosting cross-border trade, but it hasn’t delivered the desired result. The previous fiscal year ended at just 75% of target, and the year before that at 63%.

Read more: myRepublica (monthly revenue)

The Grand Old Party Won't Let Its Leader Quit

Nepali Congress rejected president Gagan Kumar Thapa's resignation on Sunday after the party won only 38 seats in the March 5 election, its weakest performance in history. Thapa, who had taken over at a special convention in January and lost his own Sarlahi seat, stepped down on moral grounds on Thursday. However, the central working committee unanimously decide to retain him, pointing instead to "structural problems and uncontrollable external factors" rather than leadership failure. The committee also prepared a 27-point review that highlighted issues ranging from deep internal factionalism to what it described as "algorithmic influences in the digital age." One of the most striking finding suggested that some NC members practiced "silent killing" by choosing not to campaign for party candidates. Meanwhile, the Deuba faction, which has left out of the new central committee, has decided to continue its own parallel activities within the party.

Read more: myRepublica (13-page report), The Rising Nepal (rejection), The Kathmandu Post (Deuba faction)

First Trans Lawmaker Takes Her Seat

Bhumika Shrestha, 37, has made history as the country's first transgender lawmaker after RSP appointed her to a proportional representation seat in the 275-member House of Representatives. The Kathmandu based activist told AFP she feels "very excited but also the responsibility on my shoulders," and said she hopes to work toward strengthening constitutional protections for gender and sexual minorities.

Read more: DW, MSN (activism background)

Asia's Water Tower Is Melting Twice as Fast

Himalayan glaciers are losing 73 centimeters of ice each year, nearly double the 34 centimeters before 2000, according to two studies released Saturday by ICIMOD. In the Hindu Kush region, glaciers have lost as 27 meters of thickness since 1975, and around 12% of their area has disappear between 1990 and 2020. These glaciers are crucial water source, feeding at least 10 major Asian river systems that supports roughly two billion people. However, about a third of the remaining ice lies in areas that are especially vulnerable to rapid warming, raising concerns about the pace of future loss.

Read more: myRepublica (black carbon emissions), The Kathmandu Post (glacial lake floods)

Big Brands Queue at a Slow IP Court

The Department of Industry issued notices on Wednesday to 11 companies accused of copying trademark of global brands like Coca-Cola, Hugo Boss, Trek Bicycles, and New Zealand's Kathmandu Limited. The cases includes a snack company Chitwan accused of copying a Turner Entertainment logo, and a fashion business in Jhapa selling "Bass"-branded products that Hugo Boss says are too similar to its own. These are just small part of a large number of cases. Some complains from Coca-Cola's have been pending for years. The director general handles both administrative work and legal cases, and the backlog continues to grow.

Immigration Drops the Buddy System for Treks

Solo trekkers can now visit restricted Himalayan areas like Upper Mustang and Nar-Phu, as long as they hire a licensed guide through a registered agency. The Department of Immigration has removed the old rule that required at least two-person, after tourism operators said it often forced travellers to be paired with strangers. The new rules also limits each guides to a maximum of seven clients.

Read more: myRepublica (visitor stats), India Times (digital permit system)

Apples to Apples, the Border Doesn't Hold

Indian border forces seized 3,515 kg of Chinese apples and two Mahindra pickups at the Hanumannagar crossing. This shows a larger smuggling problems, with goods worth millions of rupees (tens of thousands of dollars) moving daily through nine border points in Sarlahi district. Locals says smuggling is busiest at night and early morning, when goods move freely between Sangrampur, Narayanpur, Malangwa, and six other crossings that seem to operate with flexible hours. The seizure was carried out by the Indian authorities, not the Nepali officials.

Nepal Weekly

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