Foreign trade declines by 29 per cent

Kathmandu / February 16: The country’s foreign trade shrank by 29 per cent in the first six month of the current fiscal year 2015/016.

The slump in the foreign trade volume is attributed to the decrease in import and export with India which constitutes two third of Nepal’s foreign trade, according to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre.

The export has decreased by 36.6 per cent whereas import by 36.2 per cent.

The total trade deficit of the period this year stands at around Rs 240 billion which is Rs 303 billion less than of the same period last year, shared Centre’s Director Suyash Khanal.

Similarly, export has contributed 10.3 per cent in the total foreign trade whereas import 89.7 per cent.

The total export during this period this year stood at Rs 310.4 billion, experiencing 28.6 per cent decrease. Likewise, import fell by 28.9 per cent limiting to Rs 200 billion.

The increase in the export of readymade garment, woolen carpet, cardamom among other local produces have helped the export from further decrease, argued Centre’s Director Khanal. RSS