Nepal, April 6 -- As the fires of conflict in the Middle East continue to rage, the tremors are being felt far beyond the immediate geography of the Levant and the Persian Gulf. For Nepal, a nation inextricably tied to the global energy market and dependent on the labour corridors of the West Asian region, the economic stakes have seldom been higher.

The Post's Biken K Dawadi sat down with former Executive Director of the Nepal Rastra Bank, economist Gunakar Bhatta, to explore the effects of the conflict on the national economy, dissect the intricate web of fuel volatility, inflationary pressures, and the structural shifts required to safeguard the Nepali economy. Excerpts.

How does this specific regional turbulence mechanistically driv...