ICAN’s Role as Government’s Partner for Good Governance and Economic Development

The House of Representatives Election took place in Nepal on 5th March 2026 under the leadership of the caretaker government led by Former Rt. Hon’ble Chief Justice Ms. Sushila Karki. The election was conducted within at a promised deadline despite the speculation of uncertainty over the last six months after the Gen Z protest. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) secured nearly two-thirds majority in the elections winning 182 seats (125-direct election system and 57-proportional representations) in election out of 275 seats.

Eventually, the new Government was formed under leadership of Rt. Hon’ble Prime Minister, Balendra Shah on 27th March 2026 comprising of 15-member cabinet as per the Constitution of Nepal. On the same date, the meeting of the Council of Ministers approved '100-Point Agenda for Governance Reform' aimed at improving administrative efficiency and public service delivery and serve as a roadmap for structural reforms and institutional strengthening across various sectors. The 100-point agenda for Governance Reform includes reform initiatives under broader heading such as: Delivery based Governance, Digital Government Services, Corruption Control and Asset Investigation, Economic Reform and Investment Promotion, Radical Reform in Health and Education, Energy, Agriculture, and Tourism and Social Security and Women Empowerment.

In economic front, our economy is not in satisfactory condition. It indicates slow credit disbursements, rising non-performing loan (NPL) levels in the banking sector, and declining investors’ confidence in government system. All sectors of the economy are almost stagnant, that are required to be activated. In this connection initiatives like policy reforms, legislative reforms, good governance and corruption control etc. shall be dealt with priority. The other major challenges is that country has to be removed from the grey list of Financial Action Task Force as Nepal was placed on the 'Grey List' on February 25, 2025. So, Nepal needs to initiate concrete reformative actions to be removed from grey list as priority issue.

It is worth noting that the expectations of people from new government are high which really is challenge to fulfill for the government. Apart from foreign policy the main challenges that need to deal with include unemployment, policy corruption, prevalence of cronyism in the state machinery, and poor public service delivery due to poor governance. Likewise, predictable tax policy, protection of property rights, and transparent dispute resolution mechanisms need to be in place to increase investor confidence and reduce capital flight.

In order to respond to these challenges, the government might face the problems like bureaucratic resistance, resource constraints for digitization particularly on rural areas and availability of trained manpower and so on. In the view of above, the government needs to conduct situation analysis of current scenario of economy and possibilities to initiate the reform activities particularly reforms that contribute to achieve high growth rate. 

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN) an autonomous body, established by the Government under the Nepal Chartered Accountants Act, 1997 and entrusted by the statute to promote and regulate accounting profession in Nepal is committed to contribute to the economic development of the country and undertake responsibility of leadership on matters of public interest, constructive submission on legislation and Government Policy. Hence, ICAN identifies itself as an implementing agency of various reform agenda including economic reform, investment promotion, strategy development, governance, digitalization and revenue reform.

ICAN’s latest strategic plan focuses on partnering with the government to drive national economic growth and improve its international reputation. By providing policy advice and advocacy, the Institute aims to act as a key facilitator in the country's development.

-Editorial Board, ICAN