Kathmandu, Mar. 22: Nepal’s export trade in the first eight months of the current fiscal year has set a historic record. The country exported goods worth Rs. 147.74 billion during that period, record-high export of Nepal so far.

Exports had crossed one hundred billion  marks  for  the  first  time  in the  fiscal  year  2020/21,  reaching Rs. 141 billion.
According to the foreign trade statistics published by the Department of Customs, Nepal’s export trade has increased by 82.90 per cent to Rs. 147.74 billion during the first eight months (mid-July, 2021 to mid-March 2022) of the current fiscal year.

Goods worth Rs. 80.77 billion had been exported during the first eight months of the last fiscal year.
Even though exports went up significantly, the ratio of export to import is still 1:8.86. The share of export in the total foreign trade is only 10.14 per cent while that of import is at a whopping 89.86 per cent.

Meanwhile, import trade increased by 38.64 per cent to Rs. 1,308.73 billion during the review period. In the same period of the last fiscal year, the country imported goods worth Rs. 943.98 billion.
During the review period, the trade deficit has increased by 34.50 per cent to Rs. 1,160.98 billion.

According to information officer of the Department of Customs, Punya Bikram Khadka, the growth of export in soybean and palm oil has significantly contributed to the achievement in the export growth.
The statistics showed that the share of palm and soybean oil to the export trade stood at around 52 per cent during the review period.

The country exported soybean oil worth Rs. 41.40 billion and palm oil worth Rs. 35.32 billion during the review period.  Khadka said that it is  good  to  increase  exports  by  adding  value  to  imported  goods  but  it is necessary to give continuity to the export of these goods.
However, the export of these goods may be affected in the days to come as the import of crude oil from Ukraine has started being affected due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Similarly, the country exported sunflower seeds and oil worth Rs. 3.61 billion, cardamom worth Rs. 3.23 billion, tea worth Rs. 2 billion and carpet worth Rs. 6 billion during the review period.
In the meantime, the country has imported crude palm oil worth Rs. 30.8 billion, crude soybean oil worth Rs. 43.74 billion and crude sunflower oil worth Rs. 15.52 billion during the review period.
Petrol worth Rs. 39.85 billion, diesel worth Rs. 87.83 billion, aviation turbine fuel worth Rs. 7.66 billion and liquefied petroleum gas worth Rs. 40.64 billion has been imported during the first eight months of the current fiscal year.