Nepal Trade Deficit Doubles

Nepal’s trade deficit almost doubled in the first four months of the current fiscal year to Rs 277.2 billion ($2.53 billion) compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, as imports surged heavily since the beginning of this year, Yahoo reported. According to the Department of Customs, the country imported merchandise worth Rs 301.78 billion as against total exports of Rs 24.99 billion, resulting in a trade deficit worth Rs 277.2 billion. The trade deficit rose by 99.52% in the review period as imports surged by 87.85% against export growth of 13.01% in the first quardimester. Import has been surging gradually every passing month in this fiscal. The country imported goods worth Rs 81.16 billion in the last month (mid-October to mid-November) alone. Though there was a border blockade for nearly four months since the last week of September last year which disrupted supply of goods from India to Nepal, the import growth of around 88% is relatively high.