SATV KATHMANDU, Nov 23: Nepal’s foreign trade has improved in the fourth month of the current fiscal year. The exports increased by 4.16 percent to Rs 52.67 billion and the imports by a nominal 0.17 percent to Rs 513.38 billion this year compared to Rs 512.50 billion in the same period last year.  

The records with the Department of Customs (DoC) show that both the exports and imports of the country posted negative growth in the first three months ending in mid-October. However, the country’s cross-border trade showed a comeback in one month between mid-October and mid-November. 

The DoC statistics show that the trade deficit figure however worsened due to a nominal increase in the export compared to a notable imports volume. Nepal faced a trade deficit of Rs 429.13 billion as of mid-october this year, a negative growth of 3.96 percent. But in mid-November, the country’s trade deficit stood at Rs 460.71 billion, a decline of 0.26 percent in the review period of two consecutive years. 

Meanwhile, the imports of electric vehicles (EVs) surged 26 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year. According to the DoC, the country spent Rs 10.53 billion in importing 4,217 units of the EVs, while the government collected customs revenue of Rs 5.72 billion under the heading. In the review period last year, a total of 3,115 units of the EVs worth Rs 7.70 billion were imported.   

Likewise, the country imported 827,925 units of mobile phones worth over Rs 13.40 billion. Around 80 percent of the imported mobile sets came from China, 15 percent from India and remaining five percent from the US, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Vietnam, Canada and Australia.