Nepal’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Dream: Will It Deliver, or Disappear?

Last fiscal year, tucked inside the national budget for 2081/82, Nepal’s government casually dropped a curious line:

“A Sovereign Wealth Fund will be established.”

But since then? Radio silence. No policy. No update. Nothing. And not even a mention in this year’s budget, let alone an update on the progress!

But let’s pretend, just for a moment, that we actually took that line seriously. What would it take to build a Sovereign Wealth Fund in Nepal that works? How could you contribute to it from abroad?

And more importantly: should we even try?

What Even Is a Sovereign Wealth Fund?

It sounds fancy, like something Switzerland would use to buy another mountain. But really, it’s simple:

A Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) is a national piggy bank. One that a country fills with extra money; often from oil, gas, or exports, and then invests around the world for long-term growth.

Over 90 countries have one. Many of them are doing it surprisingly well. A few? not so much.

Countries That Got It Right

Let’s start with the ones you’ve heard of:

• 🇳🇴 Norway took oil money and built a $1.7 trillion fund. That’s over $300,000 for every citizen. They invest it in global stocks, real estate, and even wind farms, all while keeping taxes low and public services high.
  

• 🇸🇬 Singapore, a country with no natural resources, built two powerhouse funds: Temasek and GIC, worth over $800 billion combined. They help fund everything from housing to healthcare.
  

• 🇶🇦 Qatar turned its oil revenues into a $500B+ investment machine. The Qatar Investment Authority now owns real estate from London to New York. Oh, and let’s not forget Paris Saint-Germain.

  Yes, Qatar bought a football club, stacked it with stars, and this season? PSG finally won the Champions League for the first time. Turns out, sometimes even football is a profitable long-term investment strategy.

• 🇧🇹 Bhutan quietly made one of the boldest moves in the region. Through Druk Holding & Investments (DHI), their sovereign investment arm, Bhutan started investing in Bitcoin mining years ago using hydro-powered facilities. By 2025, their digital asset holdings crossed $1.3 billion; nearly 40% of their GDP. Quite impressive for a country that measures success in Gross National Happiness.

• 🇺🇸 Alaska, the U.S. state of snow, salmon, and stoic silence, did something wild: it built a sovereign fund from oil money, and gave it back to the people. Every Alaskan gets an annual cheque. Just free dividends for staying warm and sticking around.

How did these countries stack up so much? Well, they had surplus money, mostly from their natural resources. Norway and Qatar had oil. Singapore made billions from global trade. Bhutan used its rivers to mine Bitcoin.

Basically, they had more money than they needed. And instead of wasting it, they invested it.

Now Nepal?
We don’t have oil.
We don’t have a global trading empire.
And we’re not exactly running a Bitcoin farm.

So, where would our sovereign wealth fund come from?

What Would Power a Nepali SWF?

Let’s be real for a second. We don’t have oil fields or trillion-dollar exports. But we do have something just as valuable! Oh not hydropower or tourism or not the newly identified gas reserve in Dailekh. The Government is actually counting on you.

Yes You! Meaning Nepalis living and working abroad, whether in Doha, Delhi, or Dallas, who combinedly send home Rs. 1.4 trillion a year. That’s over 25% of our GDP. It’s the one income stream that’s consistent, proven, and built on real sacrifice.

In the budget for 2081/82, the government talked about using remittance to set up a sovereign wealth fund for investment in public infrastructure.

“Remittance will be mobilized into the productive sector by establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund.

This fund will be used, via a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), as a complement to public infrastructure investment.”

Wait, remittance will be mobilized? How exactly?

Remittance is not the government’s money. It’s not tax revenue. It’s not state earnings.

It’s money sent home by hardworking Nepalis abroad, for their families. For survival. For savings. So what exactly is the plan here? Tax remittance? 

Also, will remittance pass through a government-controlled filter? Will they ask people to chip in voluntarily? Or Is this going to be some sort of mandatory “patriotic contribution”? 

If there’s a scheme, we haven’t seen it. If there’s consent, no one’s asked for it yet.

So let’s be very clear: if the government wants to use diaspora money, it needs to come with iron-clad transparency, independent oversight, and professional fund managers, not political appointees with “somebody’s brother-in-law” as their strongest credential. 

Because otherwise, it’s not a sovereign wealth fund. It’s a sovereign black hole.

So, honestly speaking? Remittance might not be a credible foundation for this fund at all.

But we do have other options. Stronger ones like:

• Hydropower exports: Nepal plans to export 15,000 MW of electricity by 2035. If we don’t mess it up, that’s potentially $30–40 billion over time.
  

• Excess foreign reserves: We’ve got $18.6 billion sitting with Nepal Rastra Bank, enough to cover 15 months of imports. A small slice of that could be used to test-run a pilot fund, like Botswana did.
  

• Minerals and tourism: This one looks promising on paper, but it’s still underperforming in reality.

• Bitcoin Mining: like Bhutan? Well, we are already late but can we say better late than never?

So yeah, we don’t have oil like Qatar or gold like Norway. But we’ve got something else: rivers, reserves, and a resilient diaspora that’s been holding this economy up for decades.

And that’s a solid start, as long as we build it right. 

What Does the Government Plan on Doing With It?

The government says it wants to use the Sovereign Wealth Fund to invest in public infrastructure.

Now, that might sound noble, but in Nepal, “infrastructure” usually means building things no one uses, with money no one tracks, for reasons no one remembers.

Just look at our recent track record:

• Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA): Built on Rs. 28.5 billion, mostly financed through loans from the Export-Import Bank of China. We’re now obligated to pay Rs. 2.4 billion a year (interest and principal amount) for an airport that barely sees international flights. To make it worse, a parliament committee found Rs. 10 billion worth of corruption tucked inside the runway.

  Basically, we built a ghost airport, overpaid for it, and may have accidentally funded someone’s villa in Budhanilkantha.

• Gautam Buddha International Airport: Opened with fanfare, then slowly faded into obscurity. Built on a Rs. 10 billion loan from ADB and OPEC, and yet still struggling to justify its existence.
  

• Chobhar Dry Port: Constructed with Rs. 1.54 billion from the World Bank. It’s been “almost operational” longer than anyone can remember.

All three were built with massive loans. Yet neither is fully operational. And worse, there’s no urgency to fix it. Even as interest bills pile up, the government doesn’t seem to care.

Now imagine if they get their hands on a sovereign wealth fund; a pool of money with no repayment obligations.

Just a giant pot of “free” money.

You think those funds will go into sustainable, income-generating infrastructure? Or are we looking at the next wave of prestige projects like pointless view towers that serve politicians’ egos more than public needs?

Still not concerned?

Let’s take a detour through the public fund horror show we already have:

• CIT (Citizen Investment Trust): Returns? A sleepy 1%. You’d earn more from a savings account!
  

• SSF (Social Security Fund): 5.5% returns, still trying to convince people it’s real.
  

• EPF (Employees Provident Fund): 6.5% returns, also bureaucratic and rigid, like a time-travel portal to 1996.

Now imagine giving these same decision-makers control of billions more.

That should scare all of us.

Because if the same folks managing 1% CIT returns start playing with billions, let’s just say we won’t need a crystal ball to know how this story ends.

What Else Could Go Wrong? Remember Malaysia!

Let’s talk about a real-life scam that makes even Bollywood villains look tame.

Back in 2009, Malaysia created a national investment fund called 1MDB. It was supposed to help develop the country; build infrastructure, create jobs, and attract investors. All good on paper.

But in a wild turn of events, over $4.5 billion, yes, billion, was siphoned off by a flashy Malaysian financier named Jho Low, working hand-in-hand with then-Prime Minister Najib Razak, his stepson Riza Aziz, and a few friendly bankers at Goldman Sachs.

And what did they do with the money, you ask?

They bought luxury apartments in New York and London, picked up private jets, a mega yacht, threw high-profile celebrity parties. You name it.

Oh yes, and they used it to fund The Wolf of Wall Street as well.

You can seriously not make this up. A government fund meant for Malaysian people, ended up funding a movie about financial scams. How ironic.

Now imagine giving that kind of blank cheque to Nepali fund managers, the ones giving us 1% CIT returns.

We’re not saying Nepal will become 1MDB 2.0.

But if we’re not careful, we might end up funding the sequel.

Can Nepal Actually Pull This Off?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, Nepal could set up a sovereign wealth fund. But only if we treat it as a serious, long-term institution, not a PR stunt or a budget filler.

That means no political appointments. No retired bureaucrats collecting another title. We’d need real fund managers who know what to do with billions, we need professionals, people who’ve actually managed billions before.
Not just the politically connected, but the financially competent.

And while we’re at it, why not look beyond Singha Durbar?

Nepal has a global diaspora full of finance professionals, risk managers, venture capitalists, and sovereign fund advisors working in New York, London, Dubai, Singapore. People who’ve sat at the table, people who know what this takes.

So if diaspora money is part of the fund, then don’t you think diaspora expertise should be too?

Final Take: Sovereign Wealth, or Sovereign Self-Delusion?

Nepal doesn’t lack potential. We’ve got hardworking people at home, a global diaspora that keeps the economy breathing, billions in foreign reserves, and rivers that could literally power half of South Asia.

What we lack is trust.

And no, trust doesn’t come from a committee press release or a bullet point in the annual budget. It comes from showing up with systems that work. With people who know what they’re doing. With plans that outlive the current cabinet.

A sovereign wealth fund could be that system. It could turn two decades of migration pain into actual national progress. Think fewer marble gates, more working schools. Fewer “Visit Nepal” slogans, more rural roads that don’t collapse every monsoon. Maybe even a hospital where people don’t need to bring their own bedsheets.

But let’s not kid ourselves.

But if it’s just another politically convenient slush fund, one more excuse to shuffle cash around with no real plan, then it’s not a sovereign wealth fund. It’s a sovereign self-delusion.

So here’s the only question that matters now:

If Nepal is going to build a sovereign wealth fund, will it actually be sovereign? Will it actually build wealth?

Because if not, let’s save everyone the effort.
Keep the buzzwords. Keep the launch event. Keep the fund.

Just don’t call it a future. Not unless you’re serious this time.

Let’s Talk

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What do you think about using remittance to fund public infrastructure?

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