By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Aug. 4: The government Monday appointed Sushil Bhatta as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Investment Board Nepal (IBN).
A meeting of the Council of Ministers held at the official residence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli this evening took the decision, according to Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Barsha Man Pun.
Bhatta, a member of the National Planning Commission, has been appointed to the post for a term of four years, said Minister Pun.
The post of the CEO at the IBN had remained vacant since the appointment of Maha Prasad Adhikari as the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank on April 6. A proposal tabled at the Cabinet meeting by the Ministry of Finance endorsed Bhatta's name as the new CEO at the IBN.
A committee headed by Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada was formed to recommend the name of the CEO. Three contenders, including Dr. Saroj Koirala and Ram Krishna Khatiwada, had faced the final round of interview for the key post.
Altogether 12 applicants had applied for the post. Among them, only three names were shortlisted for the final recommendation from the Ministry to get the Cabinet nod.
Nine other applicants were Sushil Gyawali, the present CEO of National Reconstruction Authority, Krishna Prasad Acharya, Deepak Raj Joshi, Suman Sharma, Chandika Bhatta, Sherjung Karki, Ramesh Chandra Poudel, Laxmi Bilash Koirala and Ashish Gajurel.
Also, the Cabinet meeting today held extensive discussion regarding the increasing cases of the COVID-19 in Biratnagar and Kathmandu after the government ended the lockdown.
According to Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe, the Cabinet also informally decided to hold further consultations regarding the increasing cases of COVID-19 with the public health experts and medical teams, including the officials at the CCMC-OPs on Tuesday (August 4) after the infected rate of the virus started increasing in the major cities of the country.