Nepal’s trade deficit has increased by 46.64 percent to Rs. 880.49 billion during the review period reports The Rising Nepal

According to the Foreign Trade Statistics of the Department of Customs, the export trade has increased by 95.48 percent to Rs. 118.85 billion during the first six months (mid-July 2021 to mid-January 2022) of the current fiscal year. Nepal had exported goods worth Rs. 60.79 billion in the same period last fiscal year.

However, the import trade increased by 51.13 percent to Rs. 999.34 billion during the review period, leading to high trade deficit. In the same period of the last fiscal year, the country had imported goods worth Rs. 661.24 billion.

With the increase in exports, its contribution to total trade also increased from 8.42 percent to 10.63 per cent during the review period, and the share of imports to the total trade has dropped to 89.37 percent.

According to the statistics, total foreign trade has also increased. The country’s foreign trade has reached Rs. 1,118.19 billion during the review period which is 54.86 percent more than the previous year. Soybean oil had the largest share of exports during the review period. Soybean oil worth Rs. 34.26 billion was exported in the last six months of the current fiscal year.

Similarly, palm oil is the second most exported commodity after soybean oil. Palm oil worth Rs. 31.96 billion was exported during the review period.