The appointment of a new governor at the Nepal Rastra Bank is still in limbo as Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his deputy Bharat Mohan Adhikari continue to lock horns over their preferred candidates to lead the central bank.

After crossing swords with the prime minister for more than a week, Adhikari has made it his party's prestige issue. The UML has officially said that the new governor should be one of the three names recommended by a committee headed by Adhikari who is also finance minister. Party leaders have begun to warn that if someone not recommended by the committee is appointed in the top post of the central bank, it will quit the government.

The three recommended names are reportedly Yuba Raj Khatiwada of the National Planning Commission, Deputy Governor Bijay Nath Bhattarai and economist Parthiveshwar Timilsina. The prime minister is reportedly pushing Chief Secretary Bimal Koirala, but he would settle for extending incumbent Governor Tilak Rawal's term.
The PMO has made no comment and, despite repeated efforts, Governor Rawal could not be contacted. The UML's advisers have blamed donors for pushing their blue-eyed boys. (See: 'Cor blimey, guv'nor', #228)