Current account at deficit of Rs 21.32 billion after four months

KATHMANDU: The current account has registered a deficit after four months. As per the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the current account registered a deficit of Rs 21.32 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year compared to a deficit of Rs 65.13 billion in the same period of the previous year.

In the US Dollar terms, the current account recorded a deficit of 182.4 million in the review period compared to a deficit of 572.0 million in the same period of the previous year.

Meanwhile, the Balance of Payments (BoP) registered a surplus of Rs 106.48 billion in the review period as compared to a surplus of Rs.23.30 billion in the same period of the previous year.

In the trade front, total trade deficit narrowed down 10.9 percent to Rs 475.44 billion in five months of 2020/21. Such deficit had contracted 6.3 percent in the same period of the previous year.

In five months of 2020/21, merchandise exports increased 5.1 percent to Rs.50.06 billion compared to an increase of 27 percent in the same period of the previous year. Similarly, merchandise imports decreased 9.6 percent to Rs 525.50 billion compared to a decrease of 4.2 percent a year ago.

Remittance inflows increased 10.9 percent to Rs.416.81 billion in the review period against a decrease
of 0.2 percent in the same period of the previous year.