Kathmandu, Apr. 22

Trade deficit of the country has increased by 16.8 per cent and reached Rs.242.91 billion during the first eight months of the fiscal year 2011/12, according to a preliminary report of the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC).

Trade deficit was Rs.207.94 billion during the same period last year.

The report showed that during the period the total export increased by 8.4 per cent to Rs. 47.52 billion and the import by 15.3 per cent to Rs. 290.42 billion.

It said that foreign trade increased by 14.3 per cent reached Rs. 337.94 billion from Rs. 295.62 billion of last year.

The contribution of the export and import to the total trade stood at around 15.1 per cent and 84.9 per cent respectively, the report stated.

The ratio of the export and import was 1: 6.1 during the review period as against 1:57 of the same period previous year.

Carpet, readymade garment, textile, lintel, iron and steels goods, handicraft, cardamom, tea and herbal products were the key export items.

Among them, yarns (Polyester, Cotton and others) products, carpet, textile and readymade garment occupied the first, second, third and the fourth position respectively.

Nepal exported its products to the United States of America, Germany, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands and other countries.

Export of yarns and carpet increased significantly during the period.

Export of yarns increased by 5.3 per cent to Rs. 4.15 billion and carpet by 18.5 per cent to Rs. 3.71 billion during the review period.

Similarly, the export of textile and readymade garment increased by 22.6 per cent and 9.7 per cent to Rs. 3.31 billion and Rs. 2.93 billion respectively, said the report.

However, the export of lentil and tea dropped by 50.8 per cent and 12.4 per cent to Rs. 31.52 billion and Rs. 890 million respectively during the same period as compared to previous year.

Export of woolen and pashmina shawls also saw a decline by 11.6 per cent to Rs. 970 million.

Export of cardamom, ginger, herbal products, handicraft, Nepali hand-made paper stood at Rs. 2.20 billion, Rs.245 million, Rs.440 million, Rs.202 million and Rs.348 million respectively.

Similarly, among the imports, petroleum products occupied the fist position during the eight months.

Import of petroleum products increased by 30.8 per cent to Rs. 58.25 billion during the review period.

Petroleum products worth Rs.44.54 billion were imported during the first eight months of pervious year, said the report.

Gold was the second item to be imported significantly during the eight months of the current fiscal year. The import of gold increased by 469.5 per cent to Rs 16.23 billion as compared to the same period of last year.

During same period last year Nepal imported gold worth only Rs.2.85 billion.

However, the import of iron and steel products saw a drop by 5.8 per cent to Rs. 28 billion. Similarly, the import of vehicular items also decreased by 19.4 per cent to Rs. 14.31 billion during the eight months of the current fiscal year as compared same period last year.

Import of the telecommunications materials also decreased by 9.2 per cent to Rs. 6.10 billion.

Most of the imported goods came from India, China, Argentina, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.