July 27: Liquor importers have said that the government’s ban on import of ready-made liquor has done more harm to foreign exchange reserves than the outflow of currency from Nepal.

The Nepal Liquor Importers Association held a press conference in the capital on Tuesday and said that the import of ready-made liquor will cost USD 15 per litre, but the same liquor when sold to foreigners in hotels, restaurants and bars can earn as much as USD 120 per litre.

"When importing liquor, an average of USD 15 is lost per litre. But when it is sold from hotels, restaurants and bars, it earns USD 120 per litre,” said Anil Kumar Agarwal, president of the association.  

Agarwal also presented the data that the import of ready-made liquor will result in an outflow of USD 1.2 million (Rs 1.5 billion) and the government will receive Rs 3.3 billion as revenue from it. He claimed that the government is encouraging illegal imports by banning the import of ready-made liquor. 

According to Agarwal, the amount spent on the import of liquor is only 0.10 per cent of the total foreign exchange reserves spent on the import of various goods in a year.

The government has banned the import of ready-made liquor since April 26. Due to the ban, the supply of foreign liquor from official channels has decreased, and fake goods of international brands have started to enter the market, according to the association.

The general secretary of the association, Gaurav Sharda, accused the government for giving smugglers the favourable ground to import liquor illegally. According to him, alcohol is a high-taxed commodity, so there is a lot of profit in tax evasion, leading in increase of smuggling in the border areas.

"Even when there was no ban on imports, we have seen that liquor was brought to Nepal from India by smugglers and sold," Sharda said adding.

If one litre of liquor is imported by dogging the revenue, the profit is Rs 3,500. Last January, the police seized 216 cartons of foreign brand liquor illegally imported from India in Kapan, Baneshwar and other places in the capital.

Sharda asked the media to make news based on facts stating that wrong data is being propagated regarding the import of liquor.