Exports to third countries expanded by more than 42 percent during the period and crossed Rs 19 billion, while exports to India also expanded by 10 percent, to reach Rs 31.68 billion.
The strong growth in exports of woollen carpets (Rs 4.41 billion), pulses (Rs 4 billion) and readymade garments (Rs 3.6 billion) mainly contributed to the sharp rise in third-country exports. Growth in exports to India accounted for better exports of readymade garments, GI pipes, textiles, toothpaste and catechu.
Likewise, consumption of third-country-produced goods grew at a rate of 47 percent and stood at Rs 85 billion. Imports from India also grew by double digits and reached Rs 115 billion.
Furthermore, despite the shrinking of overseas jobs opportunities, due to the global slowdown, Nepal received well over Rs 150 billion in workers’ remittances during the first nine months of the current fiscal year. That amount was 60 percent more than what the country received in the same period last year.
As a result, the country’s foreign exchange reserves grew by 11.7 percent, to US$ 3.47 billion, in mid-April 2009.
The NRB report further cites that inflation, which had soared by 13.4 percent in past months, moderated to 11.9 percent in mid-April 2009, as the prices of food and non-food items marginally eased.
That amount of inflation, however, was still too much for general consumers to bear. The government had promised to contain inflation at 7 percent for 2008/09, but the central bank says it might not come down to a single digit figure.
Higher inflation has been attributed as the reason that food prices have increased by 14.8 percent and non-food items have increased by 8.8 percent.
Of the major food items, the prices of sugar and sugar-related products increased by a whopping 50.5 percent in mid-April 2009. The price indices of meat, fish and eggs, as well as vegetables and fruits, also increased by 28.2 percent and 21.3 percent, respectively, during the period.
During the period, the prices of pulses rose by 20.7 percent, compared with the earlier prices, while the prices of grains and cereal products also went up by 7.8 percent.
The central bank report further shows that salary and wage rates also rose by 20.3 percent in mid-April 2009. While salaries increased by 16.8 percent, the wage rate also soared by 21.5 percent during the period.
The wages of laborers in the agricultural, industrial and construction sectors, which increased by 27 percent, 14 percent and 18.8 percent respectively during the period, saw the biggest increases among all similar sectors.
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