Remittance inflow up 23% in mid-August

September 25, 2020, 06:21:07 PM |

KATHMANDU: Against anticipations that Nepal would witness sharp decline in remittance inflow amidst the global economic recession led by COVID-19 pandemic, the country witnessed surge in remittance inflow by 23 percent in the first month of the ongoing fiscal year (mid-August).

As per the ‘Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal’ report of the first month of 2020-21 released by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) today, inflow of remittance surged to Rs 92.71 billion in the review month compared to an increase of 2.0 percent in the same period of the previous year.

In the US Dollar terms, remittance inflows increased 14.5 percent compared to an increase of 0.7 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the first month of 2020-21, merchandise exports increased by 8.9 percent to Rs 9.62 billion compared to an increase of 27.7 percent a year ago while merchandise imports decreased 19.6 percent to Rs.85.81 billion compared to a decrease of 11.5 percent a year ago.

Following some improvements in export, Nepal’s total trade deficit narrowed down 22.2 percent to Rs 76.19 billion in the first month of 2020-21. Such deficit had contracted 13.9 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Similarly, the balance of payments registered a surplus of Rs 51.46 billion in the review period. Such surplus was Rs 6.05 billion in the same period of the previous year.

Likewise, the current account remained at a surplus of Rs 25.41 billion in the review month against a deficit of Rs.9.34 billion in the same period of the previous year.

The year-on-year consumer price inflation stood at 3.49 percent in mid-August 2020 compared to 6.95 percent
a year ago. Food and beverage inflation stood at 5.38 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 2.04 percent in the review month.

Fiscal Nepal |

Friday September 25, 2020, 06:21:07 PM |