A Cabinet decided to pick economist Nepal to head the central bank of Nepal, out of three candidates competing for the post. Two Deputy Governors at Nepal Rastra Bank, Gopal Kafle and Maha Prasad Adhikari, were the other shortlisted candidates.

Nepal is the 16th Governor and will head the NRB for next five years. The current Governor Yuvraj Khatiwada is retiring from the post today.

A PhD holder from Banaras Hindu University, Nepal, was working as a financial advisor to Prime Minister Sushil Koirala before this. He has also worked as advisor in Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance and also in various other private institutions.

He has also experience of heading another regulatory body—Securities Board of Nepal—and is credited for bringing reforms in the stock market.