Trade deficit up by 58.28% to Rs 413.47 billion in the first quarter

KATHMANDU: Trade deficit has increased by 58.28 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (FY).

The Foreign Trade Statistics provided by Custom Department showed that the trade deficit in the first quarter amounted to Rs 413.47 billion up from Rs 261.2 billion in the same quarter of the previous FY.

In the first quarter of this FY, imports amounted to Rs. 478.5 billion whereas exports amounted to Rs. 65.05 billion.

In contrast, the trade deficit had declined by 15.13 per cent in the first quarter of FY 2020/21 in comparison to the same period of FY 2019/20.

In the first quarter of the current FY, the export increased by 109.54 per cent. The FTS showed that aggregate export amount in this quarter recorded Rs. 65.05 billion whereas the amount in the same period of the previous FY was Rs 31.04 billion.

Meanwhile, the import has expanded by 63.73 per cent this first quarter. The FTS showed that aggregate imports amounted to Rs. 478.52 billion up from the Rs. 292.2 billion of the same period of the previous FY.