KATHMANDU, Sept 24: Nepal’s total foreign trade grew by 22.54 percent in the first two months of the current fiscal year (FY), due to a notable rise in both exports and imports.
The records with the Department of Customs (DoC) show that the country’s total foreign trade stood at Rs 352.47 billion during the period from mid-July to mid-September this year, up from Rs 287.63 billion in the same period last year.
In the review period, the country’s export earnings increased by 88.57 percent to Rs 47.31 billion. On the other hand, the import expense grew 16.23 percent to Rs 305.15 billion. The import-export ratio was recorded at 6.45, which shows that Nepal has been spending around Rs 6.45 on imports for every export earning of Re 1.
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Traders said that the approaching festivals have led to a whopping rise in imports, which was observed almost every year. According to them, the Gen Z movement in the second week of September and the disruption of two land routes of Nepal-China bilateral trade via Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi for over two months had negligible impacts on the country’s trade volume.
Petroleum products stood as the largest imports, with the country purchasing fossil fuels worth Rs 45.39 billion. Expenses on imports of animal fat, vegetable ghee, soybean oil, sunflower oil and palm oil were recorded at Rs 27.41 billion in total.
Likewise, imports of steel and iron products stood at Rs 22.97 billion, while the country spent Rs 22.16 billion on the purchase of electrical devices, machinery and related parts.
On the export side, the country made the largest earnings by selling animal fat, vegetable ghee, soybean oil, sunflower oil and palm oil worth Rs 23.56 billion abroad. The amount makes up almost half of the country’s total export earnings.
As per the DoC’s records, the gap between imports and exports has also widened with the increase in trade volume. Nepal faces a trade deficit worth Rs 257.83 billion, an increase of 8.59 percent in the review period.
Along with the rise in imports, the government’s earnings from customs revenue also increased 4.46 percent. Compared to the customs revenue of Rs 74.31 billion in the review period of the last FY, the amount rose to Rs 77.63 billion.
