kathmandu
Country’s foreign trade has increased by 63 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal (beginning from July 16) compared to the corresponding period last year (2020-21), The country witnessed the foreign trade worth Rs 575 billion in the first five months of the last fiscal year and the figure rose to Rs 941 billion this year. The latest data issued by the Department of Customs show that the import business also increased by 59.55 percent this year compared to the previous year.
The import in the five months of the last year was calculated at Rs 525 billion and it has jumped to 838 billion till mid-December of the current fiscal. Likewise, the export also rose to 105.61 percent in the period in reference. Nepal’s export business was worth Rs 50.05 billion till mid- December last year and it reached 102 billion in the corresponding period this year. According to the Department, despite the data suggesting the rise in export this year, the country’s trade deficit has further ballooned this year compared to the last year.
The nation records a 54.7 percent rise in trade deficit to calculate it at Rs 735 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. Last year, it was Rs 475 billion in the corresponding period. The contribution of import in the country’s total foreign trade in the first five months of the last fiscal year was 91.3 percent and it went down by 2.45 percent during the current fiscal year to stand at 98.07 percent. Similarly, the share of export in foreign trade has increased to 10.93 percent, increasing by 25.72 percent.
It was 8.7 percent in five months of the last fiscal year. According to the Department, out of the petroleum products that occupy a large portion in foreign trade of the country, the highest amount of diesel was imported in the first five months of the current fiscal year. Diesel worth Rs 49.02 billion was imported till mid-December 2021. Likewise, crude soybean oil comes second in terms of the highest proportion of import.
E