April 6: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma underlined the urgency of making resolution to develop the dry port as an export centre.    
The remittance and import-based economy is risky for Nepal, Minister Sharma said, stressing the dry port should be developed a centre point for exporting goods.    
At a programme organized following the inauguration of the dry port by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Tuesday, Finance Minister Sharma said the dry port should be strategically used to increase export of food items and agro-based goods.    
The Finance Minister also highlighted the need of moving towards self-dependence by converting labour and natural resources into capital.    
He further expressed the readiness on part of the government to collaborate with private sector and cooperatives for the same.    
Presenting the data related to import and export on the occasion, he said Nepal's import has been estimated to be around Rs 1,308 billion as of mid-March 2022 and this has increased by 38 per cent in comparison to last year.    

He further shared the country's exports stand at Rs 147 billion in the last eight months which is a slightly better than in in the previous year.    
The minister added that COVID-19 pandemic followed by Russia-Ukraine war have added serious challenges to the country's economy.    
As of mid-March, the country's foreign exchange reserves were equivalent to Rs 940 billion, he said, adding the reserves were enough to manage import of goods for at least six months.     -- RSS