March 13: The net service income of the country is in a deficit of Rs 38.45 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year.

According to the data published by the Nepal Rastra Bank, the net service income deficit this year is lower than that in the corresponding period of last year. In the same period of the previous year, the net service income was at a deficit of Rs 55.9 billion.

Under the service account, the travel income increased by 107.4 percent during this period. In the period of seven months, tourists coming to Nepal have spent Rs 32.24 billion. In the same period of the previous year, such income was only Rs 15.54 billion.

According to the central bank, during this period, travel expenses under the service account increased by 56.6 percent to Rs 62.57 billion. Out of this amount, the expenditure on education stood at Rs 43.74 billion.

In the same period of the previous year, the expenditure under tourism was Rs 39.96 billion, while the expenditure on education was only Rs 22.60 billion.

After the improvement in Nepal's tourism business, the service income increased by 107 percent, but the service income account did not turn profitable because the expenditure on education increased by 100 percent.

It means that the Nepalese people spent more money on foreign education than the income which the country earns from foreign tourists.

If the Nepalese did not spend on education (Rs 43.74 billion), Nepal's service account (currently at a deficit of Rs 38.45 billion) would have been in a surplus by more than Rs 5 billion.