By TRN Online, Kathmandu, Nov 25: Nepal's trade deficit in the first four months of the current fiscal year (FY) went up by 56.83 per cent in comparison to the same period of the previous FY.

According to the Foreign Trade Statistics (FTS) of the Department of Customs, the trade deficit recorded Rs. 568.17 billion in the first four months of the current FY up from Rs. 362.29 billion in the same period of the previous FY.

The statistics showed that relentless expansion in the trade deficit is stimulated by rapid rise of imports. In the first four months, the imports rose by 61.57 per cent in comparison to the same period of the previous FY. The FTS showed that the imports in the first four months recorded Rs. 650.29 billion in current FY up from Rs. 402.49 billion in the same period of the previous FY.

Meanwhile, the exports outstandingly stimulated up by 104.29 per cent. The FTS showed that the amount of exports jumped up to Rs. 82.12 billion in the first four months from Rs. 40.2 billion in the same period of the previous FY.

The parallel rise of the exports and imports led the aggregate amount of the total foreign trade to expand by 65.45 per cent. According to the statistics, the total foreign trade recorded Rs. 732.4 billion in the first four months up from Rs. 442.6 billion in the same period of the previous FY.

In spite of bulge in foreign trade deficit, the import to export ratio has slid down by 20.91 per cent. According to the FTS, the import to export ratio in the first four months remained 7.92 down from 10.01 in the same period of the previous FY.