Kathmandu, June 27

The country’s trade deficit has increased by 17.40 per cent in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year. According to the Department of Customs (DoC), the country’s trade deficit has reached Rs 1.21 trillion, while it stood at Rs 1.03 trillion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

During the review period, the country’s foreign trade reached Rs 1.38 trillion, which is an increase by 17.50 per cent as compared to Rs 1.18 trillion in the corresponding period of previous fiscal.

According to the data compiled by the DoC, imports have a 93.7 per cent share in the total foreign trade of the country while exports have 6.3 per cent share. As per the data, the country imported goods worth Rs 1.29 trillion in the first 11 months of the current fiscal. This amount is 17.45 per cent more than the imports in the same period of the last fiscal year, when it stood at Rs 1.10 trillion.

Meanwhile, as compared to imports, the ratio of exports is very low. In the 11 months of the current fiscal, the country exported goods worth around Rs 87.83 billion. However, this amount is an increase by 18.18 per cent as compared to the same period of the previous fiscal.

In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, goods worth Rs 74.32 billion had been exported, as stated by DoC.

Thus, the import-export ratio at the moment stands at 1:14.8. This means that for every rupee of goods exported, the country imports goods worth Rs 14.8. This ratio stood at 1:14.9 in the same period of previous fiscal.

The report further mentions that the country’s trade deficit is larger with neighbouring countries, India and China, as always. As mentioned in the report, the country faced a trade deficit worth Rs 785 billion with India in the first 11 months. While the country imported goods worth Rs 841 billion from India, goods worth only Rs 56.5 billion were exported to the southern neighbour.

Meanwhile, the trade deficit with China stands at Rs 184 billion. While goods worth Rs 186 billion were imported from China in the first 11 months, goods worth only Rs 1.96 billion were exported to the northern neighbour.