7. Surendra Pandey, former Finance Minister, in conversation on the current state of the economy.

Surendra Pandey is a senior Nepali politician and economic policy figure. Born on 25 August 1958 in Dhading and raised in Chitwan, he is a Vice Chairman of the CPN-UML. He served as Nepal's Finance Minister from 2009 to 2011 in the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led government, a term of about 20 months that many observers considered successful. His budgets focused on job creation, law and order, a better investment climate, and power projects to address the electricity shortage. He has been elected to parliament from Chitwan-1 and is known within his party for developing economic reform plans. He remains an active commentator on the budget, national pride projects, agriculture, and the economy.