Nepal’s trade deficit soars to Rs 880 billion in 6 months

KATHMANDU: The country faces a huge trade deficit of Rs 880 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year.  

In a half-year report made public by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Wednesday, noticeable import is the reason behind the soaring trade deficit. The trade loss in total goods is 46.6 percent. The loss however decreased by 5.8 percent as compared to the same period last year. In the review period, the export-import ratio has reached 11.9 percent. It was 9.2 percent in the same period last fiscal.

In these six months, imports worth Rs 191 billion was made from India, while such import in the same period of the last fiscal year was R 83.1 billion. However, the export of total goods in these six months amounted to Rs 118 billion.

Similarly, in the review period, net foreign direct investment recorded increase by 48.1 percent, thereby reaching Rs 11.34 billion.

The balance of payment is at a loss of Rs 241.23 billion. In the same period of the corresponding year, BoP loss was at Rs 124.92 billion.

Moreover, the remittance inflow decreased by 5.5 percent, thereby reaching Rs 468.45 billion in this period. RSS