May 20: The country’s total trade deficit swells in the first nine months fiscal 2018-19 has swelled by 21.6 per cent to Rs 991.81 billion.
According to the latest statistics of Nepal Rastra Bank, the import volume increased by 21.3 percent to Rs 1,061.63 billion against increment in exports by 16.9 percent in the review period, thus creating pressure on the overall Balance of Payment (BoP) situation. The BoP remained at a deficit of Rs 64.68 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 14.6 billion in the same period of the previous year.
Likewise, the current account also posted a deficit of Rs 204.43 billion in the review period against a deficit of Rs 172.67 billion in the same period of the previous year.
Workers’ remittance increased by 20.9 percent to Rs 653.19 billion in the review period compared to an increase of 5.6 percent in the same period of the previous year, according to the central bank.
Meanwhile, consumer price inflation remained at 4.4 percent in mid-April 2019 compared to 5.3 percent a year ago. Food and beverage inflation stood at 2.8 percent in mid-April 2019 compared to 4.7 percent a year ago, as per the report. The non-food and service inflation stood at 5.7 percent in mid-April 2019 compared to 5.8 percent a year ago.
