The Finance Ministry has written a letter to the Office of Attorney General requesting for the quicker settlement of the case against Bijaynath Bhattarai, who was suspended from his position of governor of the central bank after the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed case of corruption against him.

According to Nepal Samacharpatra, the Ministry has requested for quicker settlement stating that there is legal complication in appointing another governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) as Bhattarai remains in suspension.

The CIAA had filed case against Bhattarai as well as NRB director Surendra Man Pradhan at the Special Court claiming they had embezzled Rs 24.5 million.

In its letter, Finance Ministry has said that in the absence of full-fledged governor, the financial sector reforms programmes were suffering. Earlier, there were reports that in the absence of a governor, the NRB will not be able to print notes since the governor has to sign them. As such, the country could face shortage of currency notes later this year, said reports.

Meanwhile, the Special Court has fixed the next hearing date on Bhattarai’s case on July 11.