Nepal's imports rises by 57.18% whereas exports rises by 3.19% ; Trade surplus with US and UK only

The first month of the fiscal year (FY) 2075/76 has passed, and along with that the trade statistics for the first month is also out. As it always has been the trend, this time too the numbers aren’t satisfactory. The table below provides an overview of the total trade status of Nepal on the first month of this FY as compared to the first month of last FY.

In the table above, we can see that the imports have increased by 57.18% compared to last FY, whereas the exports have increased by a mere 3.19%, which is far from par. This increasing discrepancy between the rise in imports and exports has led to a huge deficit. The 12-month data released by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had mentioned a marginal surplus in the Balance of Payments (BOP), whose sole contribution goes to the remittance. Thus, in relation to the first month of last FY, this year the trade deficit has risen by 62.35%.

Similarly, when we analyze our trade patterns based on the country, the top position is occupied by India accounting for approximately 65% of the total deficits from the top 10 countries. The below table shows the list of top 10 countries we’re importing from:

Looking at the export side, given that we have an open border with India we will obviously be having high imports and exports. However, if we look at the list below, we have a trade surplus with countries like the United States and United Kingdom. This shows that we’ve been able to create a niche market in those places. Apart from that we have got a long way to go, if we want to balance our trade deficit and bring it to surplus.