Five Months Data shows Improving Fiscal Deficit; Alarming Rise in Import of Electricity Alternatives and What It Might Be Telling Us
Nepal's foreign trade statistics for the first five months of the fiscal year 2077/78 have been unveiled.
According to the data unveiled by the Finance Ministry, import has declined -9.59% compared to the same time period in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, export has increased by 5.12%. This has resulted in an improvement in the trade deficit. Data shows that the trade deficit has been decreased by 10.91% with the increase in exports and a simultaneous decrease in imports.
Nepal imported the highest worth of goods from India. China is the second-largest exporter for Nepal, followed by Argentina, and then the United States of America.
On the other side, Nepal exports the most goods to India. The USA is the second-largest importer of Nepalese products. It is then tailed by Germany, which is tailed by the UK.
Diesel and Petrol remain the top imported product in Nepal, with a combined revenue generation of Rs. 26.67 Arba. Meanwhile, Soya-bean oil and fractions are our top exported products. Carpets and textile floor coverings are the second-most exported products in terms of the monetary amount.
The data shows that Birgunj is the major custom checkpoint from where the most import and export happens. Meanwhile, Nepal imported the second-most amount of goods from Bhairahawa and exported the second-most amount of goods from Biratnagar.
On a peculiar note, the import of generators has increased by 359% this time compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. This happened after the end of Kulman Ghishing's tenure, a man hailed for his role in eliminating the country's load-shedding and power outage. An average consumer rarely imports generators from outside the country. Companies do that. Thus, Nepalese citizens are trying to figure out what is symbolized by the recent reoccurrence of power outages, and this data about the spike in the import of energy alternatives.
