Created to promote the social development of women alongside its commercial interests, First Women Bank has led the way in financial inclusion.

The government has done an about-turn on its plans to introduce higher taxes on foreign portfolio investors as it finds ways to boost the equities market. Experts reckon the finance ministry misjudged the state of things.

Nepal’s government wants everyone to have access to a bank and has ordered a branch in each of the country’s 753 districts. Asiamoney journeys to one of the poorest and most remote parts of Asia, high in the Himalayas, to see if its grand financial-inclusion plan is working.

Chaos and upheaval in Nepal have given way to growth and stability, and investors have taken note. Capital is flowing in from India and China, while the government pushes ahead with securing its inaugural credit rating, but can the good times last?

RBL Bank has been transformed over the last decade, from parochial local lender to a second-tier bank with genuine national scale. Its investment in digital and data analytics, and its focus on financial inclusion, suggests it isn’t finished yet.

Its local banks have invested heavily in technology, but many customers still prefer the old-fashioned ways: paper ledgers and physical tellers. And while the country’s fintech industry is filled with promise, it remains stuck in first gear.

Private equity was once a peripheral pursuit in the country – no longer. With many of India’s big companies deep in debt, immersed in bankruptcy proceedings or cut off from bank funding – or all of the above – buyout firms are rushing to fill the void.

The country’s fintech sector has enormous potential, but it is being hobbled by a host of factors, from inconsistent regulations to a damaging credit crunch affecting local non-bank finance companies.

Pakistan is a bailout addict, having spent 22 of the last 30 years in the fund’s intensive care, but can Imran Khan’s new government break that dependency? His finance minister says he has the cure.