Foreign trade of Rs 1,115 billion incurs loss of Rs 861 billion

Kathmandu: The country recorded a loss of Rs 861.38 billion in foreign trade of a total of Rs 1,115.79 billion in the last seven months of the current fiscal year.

The data was released by the Department of Customs that included the import and export details till the end of the month of this fiscal year. During this period, Nepal’s imports amounted to Rs 988.58 billion, while exports amounted to Rs 127.20 billion.

The Department further shared that the exports increased by 46.50 percent as compared to the transactions done in the same period last year, while the import increased by 10.09 percent. The total foreign trade was upped by 13.30 percent.

Still, the trade loss increased by 6.20 percent as compared to the same period last year. The total foreign trade comprises 88.60 percent in imports and 11.40 percent in export. The Department’s record showed Nepal bore a trade deficit of Rs 498.34 billion with the largest trade partner, India, alone in the review period. In the last seven months, Nepal imported goods of Rs 596.35 billion, while exporting goods of Rs 98.75 billion.

Nepali is incurring a trade loss with the northern neighbour as well. The trade deficit of Rs 19.44 was faced by Nepal with China in the last seven months.

The goods amounting to Rs 192.45 billion were brought into Nepal from China, while only Rs 2 billion was recorded in exports. Some other countries Nepal has been facing loss in trade are Argentina, UAE, and Australia. However, there are 35 countries facing trade loss with Nepal.

Nepal is on the positive side of trade with Afghanistan. Nepal’s import from Afghanistan stood at Rs 12.4 million, while Nepal was able to post an export of Rs 494.5 million.

Denmark, Russia, Austria, Norway and Maldives are some countries facing trade loss with Nepal. The Department mentioned that a huge chunk of money is spent on buying petroleum products. The soybean oil tops the exports from Nepal.

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