April 9: The government has suspended Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari accusing him of failing to accomplish his responsibilities as the governor of the central bank.

After repeated calls for bailing out the economy from crisis, the Ministry of Finance on Friday handed over the suspension letter to Governor Adhikari.

The ministry has assigned the responsibility of Officiating Governor to Deputy Governor Neelam Dhungana.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Thursday (April 7) had decided to investigative into the alleged role of Governor Adhikari in leaking sensitive information of NRB. The Cabinet meeting has formed a committee under the coordination of former Supreme Court Justice Purushottam Bhandari to investigate the matter. The committee has been asked to submit its report within a month.

A source at the finance ministry said that Governor Adhikari was suspended so that he would not be able to destroy evidences. If he emerges clean after the investigation, Adhikari will reassume his duties as NRB governor. However, if he is found guilty the prospect of Adhikari returning back to the top job will effectively come to an end.

Adhikari was appointed as the governor of NRB by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli. He was praised for adopting a private sector-friendly policy to uplift the economy battered by Covid-19.

However, after the formation of the new government, it was revealed that he did not enjoy good relation with incumbent Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Both Sharma and Adhikari had publicly denied their relation had soured.

During a programme on Friday, Finance Minister Sharma had accused Adhikari, without mentioning his name, of being involved in leaking vital information to the media.

While Finance Minister dismissed rumors that the country’s economy was in crisis as mentioned in the media, Governor Adhikari maintained that the country was following the footsteps of Sri Lanka.