Economic recession continues, trade deficit widens further

The country’s trade deficit has reached more than Rs. 1,053 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2023/24.

According to the statistics of the Department of Customs based on the first nine months made public on Sunday, Nepal has incurred a trade deficit of Rs. 1,053.42 billion.

Although the trade deficit decreased by 2.75 per cent compared to the same period last year, it is still large.

The country faced a trade deficit of Rs. 1,083.22 billion during the first nine months of the last fiscal year 2022/23. According to the Department, foreign trade has decreased by 2.92 per cent to Rs. 1,281.31 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

This fall in foreign trade shows that the country is still reeling under economic recession. During the review period, the ratio of imports and exports stood at 1: 10.24 while it was 1: 10.16 during the same period in fiscal year 2022/23.

The contribution of exports and imports to the total trade is 8.89 and 91.11 per cent respectively.

According to the latest data from the Department of Customs, the country's exports have declined by 3.66 per cent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of last fiscal year 2022/23.

Goods worth only Rs. 113.94 billion have been exported during the review period of the current fiscal year while the country exported goods worth Rs. 118.27 billion in the corresponding period last fiscal year.

The country exported goods worth Rs. 157 billion in 2022/23.

Goods worth only about Rs 13.33 billion have been exported in the month of Chaitra (from mid-March to mid-April) of the current fiscal year.

The reduction in the export of soybean oil and palm oil resulted in a decline in the overall export during the review period. Export of soybean oil has dropped almost by 90 per cent and palm oil by 67 per cent during the review period as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal year.

The country has exported soybean oil worth only Rs. 828 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while soybean oil worth Rs. 8.43 billion was exported in the first eight months of the last fiscal year. Similarly, palm oil worth Rs. 5.71 billion was exported in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while during the same period last fiscal year Nepal exported palm oil worth Rs. 17.29 billion In the meantime, the export of sunflower oil has also decreased to Rs. 256 million during the review period.

During the review period, yarn worth above Rs. 8.6 billion, carpet worth Rs. 8.5 billion, tea and coffee worth Rs. 2.7 billion and cardamom worth Rs. 6.28 billion have been exported.

Cement and clinkers worth Rs. 2.97 billion have been exported during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

During the review period, goods worth Rs. 1,167.36 billion were imported in the review period.

The country imported goods worth Rs. 1,201.5 billion in the same period last fiscal year.

Goods worth Rs. 137.14 billion were imported in the month of Chaitra (from mid-March to midApril) of the current fiscal year.

In nine months, Nepal has imported petroleum products worth Rs. 211 billion.

According to the statistics, the country has imported petrol worth Rs. 50.25 billion, diesel worth Rs. 103.22 billion, aviation fuel worth Rs. 15.61 billion, kerosene worth Rs. 899 million and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) worth Rs. 41 billion during the review period.