December 24: Nepal’s foreign trade has increased by 63 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year (FY 2020-21).

During the review period, capital outflow of Rs 838.40 billion was recorded for importing goods while the total trade volume stood at Rs 941 billion, according to the Department of Customs. Nepal’s foreign trade during the corresponding period of last fiscal year was worth Rs 575 billion.   

The latest data issued by the Department of Customs show that the country’s import also increased by 59.55 percent this year compared to the previous year.    

Likewise, Nepal’s export also rose to 105.61 percent in the review period. The total export of the country was worth Rs 50.05 billion till mid-December last year which has reached Rs 102 billion this year.    

According to the department, despite the rise in export this year, the country’s trade deficit has further increased compared to last year. The country recorded a 54.7 percent rise in trade deficit which stands at Rs 735 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. Last year, the trade deficit was Rs 475 billion in the corresponding period.    

According to the department, petroleum products formed a large part of Nepal’s import in the first five months of the current fiscal year.  Among the sub-categories of petroleum products, diesel worth Rs 49.02 billion was imported till mid-December 2021.    

Likewise, crude soybean oil comes second in terms of the highest proportion of import. Nepal’s entrepreneurs import crude soybean oil from different countries and export it to other countries after refining the product.    

During the review period, around 980 million litres of soybean oil worth Rs 33.66 billion was imported in the country.    

According to the Department, palm oil worth Rs 24.61 billion, petrol worth Rs 24.10 billion, LP gas worth Rs 23.11 billion and phone sets worth Rs 20.35 billion were also imported.    

In the exports section, soybean oil was the country’s main export product during the review period. As per the data of the Department of Customs, soybean oil worth Rs 30.55 billion was exported from Nepal followed by palm oil worth Rs 27.42 billion.  (With inputs from RSS)