Nepalese economist
Yuba Raj Khatiwada
(
Nepali
:
?????? ??????
; born 14 August 1956) is a former
Nepali
politician and economist who has served as the
Ambassador of Nepal to the United States
since 17 February 2021. As the residential ambassador of Nepal to the US, he was also the non-residential ambassador to
Panama
,
Costa Rica
,
Mexico
,
El Salvador
,
Honduras
, and
Guatemala
and was entitled to look after the affairs related to the
World Bank
,
IMF
, and the
World Bank Group
(
IBRD
,
IDA
,
IFC
,
MIGA
and
ICSID
).
[1]
He was a member of the
National Assembly
from 2018 to 2020 and was a minister in
the cabinet
of
KP Sharma Oli
from February 2018 to September 2020. He previously served as the governor of the
Nepal Rastra Bank
, as well as the vice-chair of the
National Planning Commission
.
Political career
[
edit
]
Khatiwada served as a nominated member of
National Assembly
from 2018 to 2020. He was appointed
Minister of Finance
on 26 February 2018.
[2]
[3]
After the resignation of
Gokul Prasad Baskota
, he was given the portfolio of
Information and Communications
as well on 20 February 2020, becoming the spokesperson of the
Government of Nepal
.
[4]
Khatiwada resigned from both ministerial posts on 3 March 2020 when his two-year term in the National Assembly ended, however he was reappointed the next day.
[5]
[6]
[7]
As any member of the cabinet must become a member of either houses of the parliament within six months of appointment, Khatiwada resigned from the cabinet on 4 September 2020 when he was not renominated and
Bamdev Gautam
was nominated to succeed him in the National Assembly.
[8]
[9]
Subsequently, he was appointed as a special economic advisor to the prime minister with benefits on par with a minister.
[10]
On 1 October 2020, the cabinet recommended Khatiwada as Nepal's Ambassador to the United States of America.
[11]
He was appointed ambassador by
president
Bidya Devi Bhandari
on 22 December 2020,
[12]
and presented his credentials to the
president of the United States
,
Joe Biden
, on 17 February 2021.
[13]
Economist career
[
edit
]
Khatiwada served two tenures as the vice chairman of the
National Planning Commission
, first from June 2009 to March 2010 and again from November 2015 to August 2016.
[14]
[15]
[16]
Between those two tenures at the planning commission, he served as the 15th Governor of the
Nepal Rastra Bank
, the
central bank
of Nepal. He also served as the senior economist in the regional centre of
UNDP
for
Asia and the Pacific
for the
United Nations
from 2006 to 2009. He had also been appointed member of the National Planning Commission from 2002 to 2005.
[
citation needed
]
Khatiwada was the Head of the Economic Research Department of the Nepal Rastra Bank from 1999 to 2002, a postgraduate teacher at
Tribhuvan University
in 1982, and intermittently, a visiting faculty member at Tribhuvan University and
Kathmandu University
from 1992 to 2001. He received his master's degrees in Economics and Public Administration from Tribhuvan University in 1981 and 1984 respectively, and a PhD in Monetary Economics from
Delhi School of Economics
,
University of Delhi
in 1991.
[
citation needed
]
Awards and recognitions
[
edit
]
Khatiwada has been awarded with national awards such as the
Suprabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu
(2001), Sukirtimaya Rastra Deep (2013) and Prasiddha Prabal Jana Sewa Shree (2016) conferred by the
President of Nepal
for his outstanding contribution to the development of Nepal in his different capacities.
[
citation needed
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Khatiwada was Minister of Finance from 26 February 2018 and Minister for Information and Communications from 20 February 2020 but had to resign from both ministerial posts on 3 March 2020 when his two-year term in the National Assembly ended, however he was reappointed the next day.
References
[
edit
]