Kathmandu, May 17

Nepal’s remittance income plunged 51.4 per cent in the ninth month of the current fiscal, as Nepalis working abroad sent less money home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cash inflow

Ninth month of 2019-20

Rs 34.48 billion

Ninth month of 2018-19

Rs 71 billion

First nine months 2019-20

Rs 626.90 billion

First nine months 2018-19

Rs 653.19 billion

Monthly average in 2018-19

Rs 73.27 billion

Nepal witnessed remittance inflow of Rs 34.5 billion in the ninth month of this fiscal, or in the Nepali calendar months of Chaitra, as against Rs 71 billion recorded in the same month a year ago, according to the latest Macroeconomic Report of Nepal Rastra Bank.

Nepal had generated an average of Rs 73.3 billion in remittance income per month in the last fiscal.

A sharp drop in remittance income in the ninth month has prompted Nepal to witness a four per cent drop in the income in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Nepal’s remittance income stood at Rs 626.9 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, as against Rs 653.2 billion in the same period a year ago.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 18, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.