KATHMANDU, Nov 20: Nepal’s export to China has seen a sizable growth in the first three months of Fiscal Year 2017/18, while export growth to India remains slow.
According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal (first three months) unveiled by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) in Kathmandu on Sunday, Nepal’s exports to China in the review period grew 27.7 percent year-on-year, while exports to India expanded by only 3.2 percent.
Nepal exported goods worth Rs 493 million to the India, while it imported products worth Rs 10.75 billion from the southern neighbor in the review period. Export of tea, wheat flour and tanned leather to China recorded a growth of 531.2 percent, 141.1 percent and 110 percent in the review period.
Farmers lament inability to export produce to India
According to the report, export of other products like handicraft goods, pashmina, silverware and woolen carpet to China has also increased in the first three months of 2017/18. However, export of other products like ready-made garments, ready-made leather goods and incense sticks has declined slightly.
In the same period of last year, exports of tea had fallen by 62.6 percent, while tanned leather grew by 28.5 percent and export of wheat flour had remained unchanged.
Similarly, exports to India posted a tepid growth of 3.2 percent in the first three months of FY2017/18 compared to a growth of 19.9 percent in the first three months of 2016/17. Though export of cattle feed, hessian, marble slab, and paper and practical board posted healthy rise, export of other products like cardamom, jute goods, mustard and linseed and noodles fell. While cardamom export fell by 54.3 percent in the review period compared to a decline of 26.2 percent in the first three months of 2016/17, jute exports declined by 1.2 percent compared to a growth of 59.7 percent last year. Export of mustard and linseed fell by 100 percent, compared to a growth of 475.1 percent in the first three months of 2016/17. Noodles export also fell 28.4 percent compared to a growth of 204.3 percent in the first three months of FY2016/17.
Export of fruits, ghee, juice, chemicals, ginger, pashmina, soap, turpentine, vegetables and turmeric also declined in the first three months of the current fiscal year compared to same period on the previous fiscal year.
According to the report, Nepal’s export to other countries increased by 9.2 in the first three months of the current fiscal year. Tea exports to third countries increased by a whopping 43.4 percent comparison to export figures of the first three months of FY2016/17.
