Nepal’s foreign trade has declined in the first month of the current fiscal year 2023/24. According to the latest foreign trade statistics released by the Department of Customs, both imports and exports declined in Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August). The imports shrunk by 1.56 percent in Shrawan as the country imported goods worth 129.23bn in Shrawan. The imports in the first month of 2022/23 stood at Rs 131.28bn. On the other hand, Nepal’s exports decreased by 8.65 percent to Rs 13.52bn. The country had exported goods worth Rs 14.80bn in the first month of 2022/23. With both imports and exports declining, the country’s total foreign trade decreased by 2.28 percent.

According to the Customs Department, there has been a big decline in the import of petroleum products in Shrawan. The country’s petroleum products’ import bills stood at Rs 21.98bn compared to Rs 25bn during the same period of the last fiscal.

There has been growth in the imports of iron and steel compared to the last fiscal. Nepal imported iron and steel worth Rs 12.95bn in this Shrawan compared to Rs 11.23bn in the last Shrawan. The country’s vegetable imports stood at Rs 2.5bn, medicine imports at Rs 2.81bn and vehicle imports at Rs 4.29bn.