Education Payments Abroad Outpace Nepal’s Tourism Earnings

Nepali students spent Rs 37.72 billion on foreign education in the first four months of the current fiscal year, surpassing the country's earnings from tourism during the same period.

According to the Nepal Rastra Bank's latest report, total travel payments by Nepali citizens rose by 10.3 percent to Rs 68.31 billion in the review period, of which Rs 37.72 billion was allocated for education expenses. In the same period last year, travel payments totaled Rs 61.92 billion, with Rs 38.44 billion spent on education.

In contrast, Nepal's travel income from tourism activities stood at Rs 26.84 billion during the review period, reflecting a 3.8 percent increase compared to the previous year.

According to the NRB, the country’s net services income remained at a deficit of Rs 22.95 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 27.89 billion in the same period of the previous year.

Meanwhile, gross foreign exchange reserves increased 10.5 percent to Rs 2255.35 billion in mid-November 2024 from Rs 2041.10 billion in mid-July 2024. In the US dollar terms, the gross foreign exchange reserves increased 9.4 percent to 16.70 billion in mid-November 2024 from 15.27 billion in mid-July 2024.

Of the total foreign exchange reserves, reserves held by NRB increased 8.6 percent to Rs 2008.15 billion in mid-November 2024 from Rs 1848.55 billion in mid-July 2024, added the report. Meanwhile, the reserves held by banks and financial institutions (except NRB) increased 28.4 percent to Rs 247.20 billion in mid-November 2024 from Rs 192.55 billion in mid-July 2024. The share of Indian currency in total reserves stood at 22 percent in mid-November 2024.

Based on the imports of four months of 2024/25, the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector is sufficient to cover the prospective merchandise imports of 18 months, and merchandise and services imports of 15.1 months, the NRB stated.

The ratio of reserves-to-GDP, reserves-to-imports and reserves-to-M2 stood at 39.5 percent, 126 percent and 31.4 percent respectively in mid-November 2024. Such ratios were 35.8 percent, 108.6 percent and 29.3 percent respectively in mid-July 2024.