By Our Reporter
Himalaya Shumsher JBR Rana, the first governor of the central bank, passed away on Sunday (5 January). He was 95.
He was suffering from Parkinson’s disease for the last five years.
Late Rana was appointed as the governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) by King Mahendra after the inauguration of the central bank on 26 April 1956. Then Rana was 29 years old.
Before assuming the leadership of the central monetary authority, he was appointed as the finance secretary at the age of 23 years in 1950.
Born in 1927 in Thapathali, Kathmandu, the late Rana had obtained a postgraduate degree from the University of Bombay. He had supported the first finance minister Subarna Shumsher Rana appointed after the establishment of democracy in 1950 to formulate the first-ever budget of Nepal, and created various departments at the Ministry of Finance.
He had contributed in leading Nepal to the membership of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, adding security features to Nepali currency notes, and pegging Nepali currency with the Indian one. During his governorship of the central bank, Nepal pegged Nepali currency with the Indian at the rate of 1.60=1.
Late Rana had worked at the United Nations and served as its residential representative in various countries for more than two decades. He was the founder of Himalayan Bank, a commercial bank established in 1993 in a joint venture with Habib Bank of Pakistan.
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