By Ajay Chhetri, Kathmandu, July 26: The trade deficit in the Fiscal Year 2020/21 has been inched up by 27.26 per cent in comparison to the trade deficit of the FY 2019/20.

The annual Foreign Trade Statistics (FTS) released by the Department of Customs revealed that the trade deficit stood Rs 1398.7 billion in FY 2020/21 up from Rs 1099 billion of FY 2019/20.

The trade deficit has been significantly expanding as the volume of the imports outweigh the volume of the export of the foreign trade of Nepal. The imports of Nepal worth Rs 1539 billion is witnessed in FTS for the FY 2020/21 meanwhile the export is barely crossed Rs 141.1 billion. The amount of trade deficit had been similar in the preceding FY as well.

The exports prompt along with the bulging imports.

As the export galvanised in FY 2020/21, the amount crossed Rs 100 billion marks for the first time. Breaking the previous FY records, the amount of export in the FY 2020/21 sprung up by 44.43 per cent from the export of FY 2019/20. The FTS revealed that the exports for the FY 2020/21 stood Rs 141.1 billion up from Rs 97.7 billion of the FY 2019/20.

Meanwhile, the volume of imports has been rising simultaneously along with the export. The FTS revealed that the imports in the FY 2020/21 up by 28 per cent in comparison to the FY 2019/20. The amount of the import in the FY 2020/21 stood Rs 1539.8 billion up from Rs 1196.7 billion of the FY 2019/20.