KATHMANDU, August 27: Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) will continue to ban the import of luxury goods. A high-level meeting held at the MoICS on Friday to review the ban of various luxury items decided to maintain the import ban for some more time.

According to an official at the ministry, a notice will be published in Nepal Gazette about the length of time of the import ban. On April 26, the ministry had banned the import of various types of luxury goods to prevent the decline of the foreign exchange (forex) reserves of the country.

The MoICS had issued a notice on July 15 in the national gazette stating that the complete ban on the import of foreign liquor, expensive vehicles, motorcycles, mobiles, chips, cigarettes, diamonds, expensive televisions, toys and playing cards until the mid-July has helped in the improvement of foreign reserves and such ban would continue till August 30.

Similarly, according to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), there has been a significant improvement in the foreign exchange reserves within two months after the import ban on luxury goods. Before the ban, there were 9.28 billion dollars in reserves in mid-May, by mid-July, this amount had increased to 9.54 billion dollars.

After the import decreased in the first month of the current financial year, the MoICS is more motivated to continue the ban as it is.

 
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