KATHMANDU: International trade has not picked up the expected pace in the first month of the current fiscal year, as per the data released by the Department of Customs. The data reveals that imports in the first month of this fiscal year have decreased compared to the same period last year.
In the month of Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), imports recorded a decline of 0.67%, with goods worth NPR 128 billion being imported. In the same period last year, goods worth NPR 129 billion were imported, marking a decrease of NPR 1 billion in imports this year compared to the same month last year.
The decline in imports is a continuation of last fiscal year’s trend, where imports failed to show significant growth compared to the previous year. Throughout the last fiscal year, imports remained negative, and this trend has continued into the first month of the current fiscal year.
Similarly, exports have also decreased this year. In the first month of the fiscal year, exports amounted to NPR 13.52 billion, while during the same period of the previous year, exports were valued at NPR 12.22 billion.
This represents a decrease in exports by NPR 1.3 billion. Overall, foreign trade has contracted by 1.52% during this period. In Shrawan of the previous fiscal year, total trade amounted to NPR 142 billion, whereas this year, it has decreased to NPR 140 billion.
Despite the decrease in both imports and exports, the trade deficit has slightly increased by 0.38% compared to the first month of the last fiscal year. The trade deficit, which stood at NPR 115 billion in the first month of the previous fiscal year, has risen to NPR 116 billion in the same period this year.