KATHMANDU, Oct 5: The government has banned completely the import of peppercorns, peas, dates, and betel nuts.

Issuing a public notice on Sunday, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has said the authority will allow the shipment of these goods only to those traders who took permits and opened letter of credit accounts as of mid-July this year. The central bank has asked the banks and financial institutions not to consider new documents for transactions and payments in concern with the import of these goods. “As the government has not extended the quota provisions and issued licenses to the importers, it has been notified to the concerned,” reads the public notice of NRB.

Last March, the government conditionally eased the restriction on the import of these farm products. Traders were allowed to import 15,000 tons each of betel nut and pepper and 5,000 tons of dates annually provided these goods are to be used for industrial purposes.

In order to prevent the possible fall in foreign currency reserves after the imposition of the lockdown on March 24 of 2019/20, the government completely banned the import of the expensive edibles along with luxury vehicles. Later on, bowing to the pressure from traders, the government turned flexible in this regard. Traders import these goods from third countries and significant quantities of these imports are found to be smuggled to India.

This time too, the government has gone into policy intervention when the country has started facing pressure on its foreign currency reserve. According to NRB, Nepal recorded a negative balance of payments worth Rs 38.75 billion in the first month of the current fiscal year. 

 
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