Foreign trade declines by 22%

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 24: The foreign trade of the country has decreased significantly during the first six months of the current fiscal year 2022/23.

According to the foreign trade statistics of the Department of Customs published Monday, foreign trade has decreased by 21.89 per cent to Rs. 873.47 billion during the first six months of the current fiscal year. Foreign trade amounted to Rs. 11181.19 billion during the same period last fiscal year.

Decline in both exports and imports have contributed to fall of foreign trade during the review period.

Imports have decreased by 20.68 per cent during the review period. Goods worth Rs. 792.66 billion were imported in the review period. The country imported goods worth Rs. 999.34 billion in the same period last fiscal year.

Not only imports, but also exports have decreased by 32.01 per cent. Goods worth only Rs. 80.80 billion have been exported in six months of the current fiscal year. Goods worth Rs. 118.85 billion were exported in the first six months of the last fiscal year.

Although exports decreased significantly, there was some improvement in the overall trade deficit during the review period.

The country has faced a trade deficit of Rs. 711.85 billion. This trade deficit is 19.15 per cent less than the same period last year.

Due to the restriction measures taken by the government in import of luxurious items to make the foreign currency reserves comfortable, the import has been reduced which contributed to improved trade deficit and reduced overall foreign trade.

However, there might be increased import in the coming months as the government has lifted the ban imposed on luxurious goods and removed the cash margin provision on import by NRB.

Export of soybean, palm oil drops drastically after import fall Similarly, the export of soybean oil and palm oil have decreased drastically due to decrease in imports which contributed to decline in overall export during the review period of the current fiscal year.

Soybean oil worth Rs. 8 billion has been exported during the first six months of the current fiscal year while it was Rs. 34.26 billion in the same period last fiscal year.

Palm oil worth Rs. 13.08 billion and sunflower worth Rs. 227 million have been exported during the review period. Palm oil worth Rs. 31.97 billion and sunflower worth Rs. 2.41 billion were exported during the same period last fiscal year.

Meanwhile, crude soybean oil worth Rs. 23.84 billion, crude palm oil worth Rs. 18.76 billion and sunflower oil worth Rs. 7.42 billion have been imported during the review period.

The crude soybean oil worth Rs. 36.58 billion and palm oil worth Rs. 28.76 billion and sunflower worth Rs. 10.24 billion were imported during the first six months of the last fiscal year 2021/22.

Due to the increase in the price of petroleum products in the international market, the import of petroleum products has increased significantly during the review period.

In the first six months of the current fiscal year, petrol worth Rs. 33.53 billion, diesel worth Rs. 70.1 billion, kerosene worth Rs. 697 million, aviation fuel worth Rs. 11.24 billion and liquefied petroleum gas worth Rs. 28.20 billion have been imported.

Similarly, the country imported paddy and rice worth Rs. 18. 63 billion, wheat worth Rs. 66 million and maize worth Rs. 8.81 billion during the review period.