Kathmandu – In the first month of the current fiscal year 2081/82 (July), Nepal suffered a loss of NPR 1.16 billion 15 million while conducting foreign trade worth NPR 1.4 billion 60.32 million. According to foreign trade data released by the Customs Department for the first month of the current fiscal year, in July of the previous year, Nepal exported goods worth NPR 12.22 billion 61 million while importing goods worth NPR 128.37 billion 71 million.

According to the department, compared to the same period of the last fiscal year, imports decreased by 0.67 percent in the first month of the current year, while exports decreased by 9.63 percent. In July alone, Nepal suffered a trade deficit of NPR 70 billion 104 million 42 lakh with India.

In the first month of the current year, imports from India amounted to NPR 77.68 billion 31 million, while exports to India were worth NPR 7.57 billion 88 million. Nepal’s trade deficit with another neighboring country, China, which ranks second in foreign trade, during this period, was NPR 24 billion 384 million 47 million. Last July, while imports from China were NPR 24.54 billion 23 million, exports were only NPR 157.6 million. Nepal also experienced significant trade deficits with Qatar, Ukraine, Australia, Bahrain, Malaysia, and other countries.

In the first month of the current year, out of the countries with which Nepal engaged in foreign trade, 13 countries showed a trade surplus. The United Kingdom recorded the highest trade surplus of NPR 183.466 thousand. Trade surpluses were also observed with Afghanistan, Belgium, Russia, Mauritius, and other countries.

Among the items that Nepal imports the most are petroleum products, iron products, smartphones, and crude sunflower oil. In the last month alone, Nepal imported diesel worth NPR 6 billion 987.1 million, petrol worth NPR 5 billion 693.5 million, and cooking gas worth NPR 4 billion 826.66 million.

Similarly, the customs department’s statistics indicate that smartphones worth NPR 3.46 billion 63 million were imported in July. Among the goods exported by Nepal were carpets, tea, steel, yarn, and other products. Last July, Nepal exported carpets worth NPR 1 billion 11.75 million.