Nepal Weekly - 2026-04-08

Apr 08, 2026

Nepal business, finance and trade news, every Wednesday.

A couple of monkeys sitting on top of a stone floor — Photo by Tomasz Brengos on Unsplash

Balen Takes Office, Sends KP Oli to Jail

Balendra Shah's first act as prime minister was to arrest his predecessor. Within hours of taking office, the new PM told police to nab former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and ex-Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak over the September 2025 crackdown that killed at least 76 protesters. The move resulted in street clashes between Oli's supporters and security forces in Kathmandu; Kathmandu District Court gave investigators a five-day remand to question both men, later extended by two more days. Shah, whose Rastriya Swatantra Party came to power on the back of those same protests, had promised accountability during his campaign. Oli's Communist Party of Nepal (UML) raised the arrests in Thursday's first session of the House of Representatives, accusing the government of political persecution.

Read more: The Himalayan Times (protest violence), OCCRP (Bhatta financials), The Himalayan Times (Agrawal arrest), MSN (cabinet makeup)

Everest's $20 Million Baking Soda Scam

Police charged 32 people over a fake helicopter rescue racket that defrauded insurers of at least $19.69 million, a caper that was first exposed in 2018 when a government probe fingered 15 companies involved (no action was taken at the time). The operation operated by way of guides sickening trekkers with baking soda mixed into food or contaminated meals to justify evacuations, then filing multiple insurance claims for single flights and getting hospitals to issue inflated medical invoices. Ten suspects have been arrested, including people from trekking agencies, helicopter companies and hospitals. Investigators found that guides also terrified some tourists that were showing mild symptoms of altitude sickness into unnecessary airlifts.

Read more: Straits Times (AFP confirmation), Asian News Network (financials)

Two-Day Weekend, Zero Choice

Civil servants have been gifted a two-day weekend for the first time, and nobody's celebrating. The government shut down all offices and schools on both Saturdays and Sundays beginning this week, in an emergency fuel conservation measure. Aviation fuel prices nearly doubled on Thursday, and the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation has been hemorrhaging money on petroleum products even as it’s put price hikes in place. Officials are now exploring ways they might convert petrol and diesel vehicles to electric power. Nepal relies almost entirely on India for fuel supplies, leaving it exposed to both price shocks and Indian decision-making.

Read more: Al Jazeera (office hours), MSN (EV conversion)

Taxes Cut, Oil Corp Still Bleeding

Nepal Oil Corporation has lost Rs 11.72 billion ($77 million) in just 15 days, caught between rising international prices and frozen retail rates. The Cabinet has, in an attempt to stem the bleeding, cut customs duties on fuel by half, but it may not be enough. Gasoline currently sells at Rs 202 per liter, but NOC's import cost of Rs 154 plus Rs 66 in taxes pushes the cost to Rs 220, leaving a per-liter subsidy loss of Rs 18. The Diesel story is even worse, it has a Rs 121/ liter loss at current retail prices.

Read more: Spotlight Nepal (tax figures), The Annapurna Express (customs cut)

Balen's Broom Sweeps 167 Points Off the Board

The NEPSE shed 167 points in the days after PM Balen Shah's government took office, a 5.7% slide that’s been a real-time barometer of investor anxiety. Markets dipped 71 points on the first trading day, then oscillated through a few brief recoveries before continuing the descent as the administration showed an appetite for enforcement.

Read more: The Himalayan Times (market), The Annapurna Express (example)

Half a Billion in Broken Glass

The National Planning Commission put a price tag on last year's Gen Z protests, and it’s Rs 84.45 billion ($555 million). The damage was widespread, across government offices, private businesses, community assets, and torched vehicles. The private sector took a Rs 33.54 billion ($221 million) hit, and the government and public sector losses ran to Rs 44.93 billion ($296 million). Rebuilding is expected to cost Rs 36.30 billion ($239 million) over the next two and a half years.

Big Spenders Stay Home

Nepal welcomed 120,516 tourists in March, a similar number to the same month last year, but the headline number is hiding a retreat of high-value visitors. American arrivals were down 28%, European visitors fell 19%, and UK numbers slid from about 6k to a little less than 5,000. A 21% increase from India and other SAARC countries papered over the gap, even though spring is normally when Western climbers and trekkers fill the lodges. Nepal Tourism Board CEO Deepak Raj Joshi is blaming the West Asia conflict for disrupting transit routes (he was personally stranded at Doha airport for a week).

Three-Quarters Electric and Rising

Electric vehicles made up nearly three-quarters of new car sales according to fiscal year 2025 customs data, one of the world's highest adoption rates, and some drivers are giving thanks as diesel prices go through the roof. Gyanu Pattel, who swapped his Tata Sumo for a 10-seater electric van a year ago, now spends $9 daily on charging for his 140km Birgunj-Kathmandu shuttle, down from the $45 he was paying for diesel. The tailwind is significant because Nepal is able to generates electricity from its own rivers instead of importing fossil fuels. Charging stations have sprung up across the country since about 2020, and electric minivan drivers have become more willing to drive with empty seats since fuel costs aren't eating their margins, meaning unexpected efficiencies are being found in shorter wait time and roomier rides for passengers.

Kathmandu Forms Committee Number 1,001 to Fix Power Bottleneck

Speaking of hydropower… The government set up a committee to figuring out why 13,000 MW of private hydropower projects are stuck waiting for Power Purchase Agreements, in a backlog that's been frustrating developers for years. The panel, is expected to find bottlenecks in the PPA process and recommend reforms.

Cull and Kill

Bird flu was reported in 23 locations in five districts, forcing authorities to destroy 104,000 fowl and ban the poultry trade in the eastern belt. Sunsari had a dozen outbreaks, Morang seven, with cases also turning up in Jhapa, Chitwan, and Kathmandu, where a crow tested positive on the Tribhuvan University campus. The eastern belt is responsible for a significant share of national poultry production; the trade ban is already pushing prices higher in city markets.

Nepal Weekly

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