KATHMANDU, AUGUST 23

The government's decision to give continuity to the ban on import of non-essential items listed under 10 categories limited the country's trade deficit to Rs 116.476 billion in the first month (mid-July to mid-August) of the current fiscal year 2022-23.

According to Nepal Trade Statistics unveiled by the Department of Customs (DoC) today, the country's total trade gap decreased by 10.38 per cent compared to Rs 129.97 in the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

Issuing a notice on Nepal Gazette on July 17, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies had extended the restriction on the import of 'luxury' items. Moreover, the government had further tightened the import of two-wheelers and mobile phone sets.

As per the department, the imports fell 12.90 per cent to Rs 131.29 billion in the review period compared to Rs 150.73 billion in the corresponding period of fiscal 2021-22. Petroleum products were the top import commodity, followed by crude soyabean oil and crude palm oil.

But at the same time, Nepal's exports saw a bigger drop in the review period, as per DoC. The country's exports plunged by 28.68 per cent to Rs 14.81 billion in review month against Rs 20.76 billion in the same period of previous fiscal. The top export commodities were refined soyabean oil, refined palm oil and woollen carpets.

DoC officials did not respond to requests for comment on the reason for the drop in exports. The imports-exports ratio in the review period surged by 22.12 per cent to 8.86. This means Nepal imported $8.86 worth of goods for every dollar's worth of goods exported. It was a deterioration from the ratio of 7.26 recorded in corresponding period of previous fiscal.

Nepal continues to have the highest trade deficit with its neighbours - India and China.

Nepal exported goods worth Rs 10.71 billion to India, while importing merchandise worth a staggering Rs 78.65 billion from the southern neighbour, resulting in a deficit of Rs 67.94 billion.

Similarly, imports from China amounted to Rs 18.77 billion, while exports to the northern neighbour was merely Rs 62.56 million. This caused trade deficit of Rs 18.70 billion with China.

The share of exports in total trade slipped to 10.14 per cent in review period, against its share of 12 per cent in first month of fiscal year 2021-22.The share of imports to total trade, on the other hand, rose to 89.86 per cent in the review period compared to 87.89 per cent in the first month of fiscal 2021-22.

A version of this article appears in the print on August 24, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.