KATHMANDU, June 29: Nepal’s trade deficit in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year has narrowed down by 16.43 percent, compared to the same period in 2019/20.

As per the records maintained by the Department of Customs, Nepal’s trade deficit during the review period stood at Rs 1.01 trillion after the imports dipped by 15.31%. The gap between the country’s export earnings and import expenses during the same period last year was negative Rs 1.21 trillion. 

The country’s import expense was down to Rs 1.10 trillion from Rs 1.29 trillion, mainly due to the fall in main import items including petroleum products. With the lockdown in place, the massive decline in economic activities took down gasoline import to Rs 142.34 billion from Rs 188.20 billion in the first 11 months. 

Despite a double-digit fall in the imports value, the export earnings grew nominally by 0.19 percent. The country’s export earnings were mere Rs 88 billion.

Over the period, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 670.59 billion from India, which is Nepal’s largest trading partner. But the export earnings from India was Rs 62.95 billion, almost one-tenth of the import expenses made to the southern neighbor.

 
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