KATHMANDU, Oct 26: Nepal’s volume of foreign trade surged 26.04 percent in the first three months of the current fiscal year (FY) due to the festive season during this period.
The records with the Department of Customs (DoC) show that the country’s foreign trade amount stood at Rs 540.86 billion during mid-July and mid-October this year. The figure was Rs 429.13 billion in the same period last year.
The export figure surged dramatically by 89.64 percent to Rs 72.78 billion during the review period. During the corresponding period of last fiscal year (FY 2024/25), the export amount stood at just Rs 38.37 billion.
Nepal’s foreign trade volume declined 1.33 percent to Rs 1.745...
On the other hand, the country’s import expense also inclined 19.79 percent to Rs 468.08 billion.
The share of export in the total trade amount declined 4.96 point percentage to 86.54 percent. Likewise, the ratio of import to the trade amount has gone up by over 50 percent to 13.46.
Despite a heavy surge in export earnings, the country spent a hefty amount on the import of petroleum products. In the first quarter, Nepal spent Rs 66.87 billion to purchase petroleum products from India, which is equivalent to almost 92 percent of the country’s earnings from overall exports.
Export of edible oils, which amounted to Rs 35.35 billion, contributed almost half of the total export earnings. Nepal spent Rs 40.27 billion to import raw material of the edible oil and animal fat.
Nepal spent a major chunk of Rs 34.13 billion to import machineries, electrical appliances and parts. The import of iron and steel was recorded at Rs 33.55 billion, while the import of automobiles was worth Rs 29.33 billion.
India, China, Argentina, the UAE and the USA were the major trading partner countries in the review period. Nepal purchased goods worth Rs 258 billion from India, which was 55.11 percent of the total import value of Rs Rs 468.08 billion. On the other hand, Nepal earned Rs 59.12 billion by exporting goods to its southern neighbor.
Nepal imported goods worth Rs 104 billion from China, while the export earning from its northern neighbor was Rs 186.4 million.
