Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani is a Nepalese politician, economist, and co-president and head of the parliamentary department of Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP).
He has served as a Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Labor & Transportation, and Minister of Housing & Physical Planning in governments formed during the Panchayat era and in governments formed after the restoration of multi-party democracy. Lohani was appointed Minister of Finance in 1987 and 2003. During his tenure as the Finance Minister, for the first time in Nepal, he initiated the process of financial liberalization by introducing policies in favor of privatization of public enterprises. Growth in Nepal's financial market, especially the emergence of banking sectors, financial institutions can be attributed to the policies enacted by him during his tenure as a finance minister. Nepal's first joint venture backed bank, Nepal Arab Bank Limited (now Nabil bank), was established during his tenure. Lohani has a keen interest in finance and economics. He has shared his ideas and views at various national and international forums such Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington DC, (chairman) 41st session of the ESCAP in Bangkok and (chairman) Nepal Aid Group meeting in 2004. Dr. Lohani has also published papers in prestigious journals like the University of Chicago Journal Of Political Economy He was a Fulbright scholar who taught as an assistant professor of finance at the California State University, Northridge, California, USA (1968–1969). Dr. Lohani has a MBA degree from Indiana University and Phd from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Lohani was a member of Nepal's historic erstwhile Constitution Assembly, which had been tasked with drafting a new constitution.
