Kathmandu. Wealth details made public by ministers in the Government of Nepal on Sunday showed that their financial priorities were focused on traditional investments. Although most of the ministers have huge amounts of gold, silver and bank savings, no one has invested significantly in life insurance, which is considered the basis of modern financial security, according to the public records.
How many gold ornaments do ministers have?
KATHMANDU: The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has made public the details of the assets of the ministers and the prime minister. According to the details made public, Prime Minister Walendra Sah has 190 tolas of gold. Similarly, Minister for Commerce and Supplies Gauri Kumari Yadav owns 180 tolas of gold, Home Minister Sudhan Gurung owns 89 tolas of gold, Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Ramji Yadav owns 80 tolas of gold, and Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle owns 45 tolas of gold.
Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Sunil Lamsal has 30 tola gold, Health Minister Nisha Mehta 30 tola, General Administration Minister Pratibha Rawal 25 tola, Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel 25 tola, Foreign Minister Sishir Khanal 22 tola, Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Sita Badi 18 tola, Law Minister Sobita Gautam 15 tola gold and Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha 15 tola.
Similarly, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Geeta Chaudhary owns 5 tolas of gold, Minister for Information and Communications Bikram Timilsina has 5 tola gold and Tourism Minister Khadak Raj Poudel has 11 tolas of gold.
From the prime minister to the ministers, a large amount of gold and diamond ornaments are mentioned as ancestral property. Despite investing billions of rupees in the stock market and real estate, no one has disclosed life insurance policies as assets. This is due to the lack of a separate mandatory palace for insurance in Nepal’s property statement form and the tendency to think of insurance as an ‘expense’ rather than an investment.
In the modern economy, life insurance is considered to be the best way to manage risk and save long-term. However, the fact that people at the policy-making level of the country do not include insurance in their property statements indicates that the penetration and understanding of insurance in Nepal is still low. The accumulation of gold and silver in the form of dead capital (non-performing assets) of many ministers has led to arguments that they lack modern financial planning.
According to government officials, although the law on submission of assets (Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059) requires disclosure of all kinds of financial interests, there is legal ambiguity about whether an insurance policy should be considered as an asset or not.
