Kathmandu, February 16

The consumer price inflation stood at 6.82 per cent in mid-January, surpassing the government’s target to keep inflation within six per cent in the ongoing fiscal year.

The ‘Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal’ report that was released by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) today showed that the inflation stood at 6.82 per cent in mid-January compared to 4.58 per cent during the same period a year ago.

Food and beverage inflation stood at 10.21 per cent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 4.25 per cent in the review month.

As per the report, the spike in the food and beverage inflation put pressure on the overall inflation. Within the food and beverage group, prices of vegetables, spices, pulses and legumes and fruits sub-groups rose significantly in the review month.

Meanwhile, merchandise export increased by 26.1 per cent to Rs 57.28 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year compared to an increase of 11.5 per cent a year ago, as per NRB. Destination-wise, exports to India increased by 45.8 per cent, whereas exports to China and other countries decreased by 8.5 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively.

In six months of 2019-20, merchandise import, however, decreased by four per cent to Rs 694.69 billion against an increase of 30.5 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

As the result of rise in export and falling import, country’s total trade deficit narrowed down 6.1 per cent to Rs 637.41 billion in the first half of 2019-20. Such deficit had expanded by 32 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

Similarly, the balance of payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 26.65 billion in the review period against a deficit of Rs 63.68 billion in the same period of the previous year.

However, the current account registered a deficit of Rs 84.71 billion in the review period.

Such deficit was recorded at Rs 152.16 billion in the same period of previous year.

The remittance inflow rose by 0.9 per cent to Rs 447.26 billion in the review period compared to a surge of 30.2 per cent in the same period of the previous year. In the US dollars terms, the inflow increased by 1.3 per cent in the review period compared to a jump of 17.6 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.