Nepal Weekly - 2026-07-29

Jul 29, 2026

Nepal business, finance and trade news, every Wednesday.

a view of a rice field with mountains in the background — Photo by Martin Skřivánek on Unsplash

Rights Groups Allege Pressure on Three Justices

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Commission of Jurists said Friday they have credible information that the executive is pressuring three Supreme Court justices to resign under threat of impeachment. None of the three organizations has published a written report, named a complainant, or identified the justices. Amnesty Nepal director Nirajan Thapaliya said the statement rests on “credible and highly reliable sources” he won’t name. Law Minister Sobita Gautam said the claim is baseless and challenged the groups to substantiate it; RSP General Secretary Bipin Acharya said no impeachment motion was ever contemplated.

Sunsari Clash Kills One; Blackout Probed

A farmer died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen after security forces opened fire on a communal clash in Dewanganj's Kaptanganj market on Sunday night. Nine others were wounded, and 13 security personnel were injured after a dispute over loud Bolbam pilgrimage music turned into a stone-and-spear standoff. The area went dark shortly before APF reinforcements arrived, and a five-member home ministry probe includes a Nepal Electricity Authority representative to figure out if the outage was deliberate. The Prime Minister's Office has given the committee seven days to report.

Read more: The Kathmandu Post (curfew), Khabarhub (PMO quotes).

Birgunj Walkout Empties Waiting Rooms

Sixty-eight doctors at Narayani Hospital in Birgunj resigned en masse after a Police Chief Superintendent allegedly shoved doctors back into the Chief District Officer's office during talks meant to defuse an earlier crisis. That crisis started Saturday, when 50-year-old Raj Kumar Patel of Birgunj-25 died in the emergency ward and his relatives vandalized the unit and beat Medical Officer Dr Pramod Ram, who is now being treated in Kathmandu. The Nepal Medical Association responded Tuesday by suspending non-emergency services at hospitals nationwide, leaving only emergency wards open at places including Bir Hospital and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. The Kathmandu Valley normally sees up to 20,000 outpatient visits on a normal day. The Health Ministry, without naming anyone or setting a deadline, promised legal action against those “responsible.”

Read more: The Himalayan Times (superintendent), myRepublica (ministry statement), The Himalayan Times (OPD scale), The Himalayan Times (NMA demands)

Trade Deficit Widens to $11.7 Billion

The trade deficit widened a bit more than 16% to Rs 1.78 trillion ($11.7 billion) in FY 2025/26, with imports of Rs 2.096 trillion ($13.8 billion) swamping exports of Rs 315.29 billion ($2.07 billion). Every rupee of exports is now matched by 6.65 rupees of imports. India made up Rs 1.21 trillion ($7.96 billion) of the gap and China another Rs 423 billion ($2.78 billion), with deficits recorded against 134 trading partners. The import habit did feed the treasury, however, as VAT collected at customs saw a 12.78 percent lift to Rs 220 billion ($1.45 billion). VAT from domestic transactions grew 4 percent. This week the government published a five-year plan to increase exports to 20 percent of GDP.

Read more: myRepublica (trade deficit), myRepublica (VAT breakdown)

Nagdhunga Tunnel Opens, Mostly to Ambulances

After eighty(!) months and Rs 24 billion ($158 million), the Nagdhunga-Sisnekhola Tunnel came into operation Monday. For now the only vehicles allowed through are ambulances, fire engines and security convoys, as the Department of Roads is blaming a manpower shortage on the delay of opening the 2.68-kilometer passage to regular traffic. Officials say the tunnel cuts a 30-minute journey to seven minutes. Locals protested the opening, demanding guaranteed water supply, compensation for houses damaged during construction, safe passage and job security. Toll rates are between Rs 60 ($0.40) and Rs 600 ($3.95) based on vehicle size.

Read more: myRepublica (trial period tolls), The Himalayan Times (protester demands)

IN Groupe Gets Biometric Deal Without a Bid

The Cabinet's June 12 decision gives 10 million biometric identification licenses to IN Groupe, a French firm that already supplies Nepal's passports through subsidiary IDEMIA and, after taking over Safran Identity, now owns the company that sold the last batch. No competitive bidding was run. The proposed price is €0.0995 (about $0.11) per license, the same rate set under a March 2019 Cabinet-approved deal, unadjusted for seven years of inflation. Of the total, 1.5 million licenses will be bought directly and 8.5 million through a government-to-government arrangement, with a home ministry negotiation team now working out final terms. The existing licenses, covering fingerprints, iris scans, and facial data tied to national ID cards and passports, are close to expiring, with only a few thousand units left in the department's stock.

Fuel Shock Hits Wholesale Prices

Wholesale inflation was 8.47 percent in mid-June, a 39-month high, after energy prices rose 48.14 percent when US-Israel strikes on Iran sent global oil prices higher. Petrol climbed to Rs219 a litre ($1.44) from Rs156, and diesel to Rs237 ($1.56) from Rs139, before Hormuz tensions eased and pump prices retreated to Rs197 and Rs195. The fuel cost increases have filtered through the supply chain, though. Wholesale prices of basic metals rose 32.20 percent, intermediate goods 14.64 percent, and chemicals 14.75 percent. Nepal Rastra Bank's Gunaraj Bhatta says the pressure is "likely to be passed on to consumers for some time." Retail inflation was reported to be 5.22 percent for the same period.

Pokhara Airport Waives Fees to Lure Airlines

The cabinet has waived parking, landing, and navigation fees in full at Pokhara International Airport through mid-September 2028, in addition to a 50 percent cut on ground-handling charges, three years after the Chinese-built airport opened without a single regular international flight. Flydubai will start a daily Pokhara-Dubai service on September 23, giving the tourism capital its first scheduled connection to a major transit hub and onward routes to Europe and the US. The airport, built on a loan of nearly Rs 22 billion ($145 million), has so far handled only domestic traffic and a handful of chartered international flights to neighboring countries.

Pact Delivers Karnali, Stalls Two Seats Short

CPN-UML and the Nepal Communist Party put their five-province carve-up in writing on July 25, with Oli’s UML taking Koshi, Bagmati and Lumbini and Prachanda’s NCP getting Karnali and the Far-West. Karnali moved fastest, with NCP’s Mangal Bahadur Shahi claiming the chief minister’s post with UML backing in advance of a planned oath today. Bagmati is stuck. UML’s 25 seats plus NCP’s 26 make 51, which is two short of the 53 needed to take charge in the 104-member assembly. UML is courting the RPP’s 12 seats; the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, holding 3, has already ruled it out.

Read more: Online Khabar (province carve-up), The Annapurna Express (Shahi oath), The Himalayan Times (RPP talks)

Central Bank Allows Indian Notes Back In

Nepal Rastra Bank has lifted its near decade-long ban on Indian 200-rupee and 500-rupee notes, and will now allow travelers to carry up to INR 25,000 ($291) per person across the border. Only the redesigned bills issued after India's November 9, 2016 demonetization qualify; the old 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes that were junked in that exercise remain no bueno. The rule, is intended to make life easier for Indian pilgrims, Nepali workers, and small border traders who've spent nine years working around cash restrictions on an open border. Nepali citizens still can't bring Indian rupees in from a third country, or take them out to one. Foreign visitors are allowed to bring in up to $5,000 without filing a customs declaration.

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