June 29: Nepal’s agricultural production has increased by 4.3 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year, according to the latest report of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

Unveiling the half-yearly review of the country’s economic activities on Tuesday, the central bank said that the production of major crops of the country such as food, vegetables and other crops has increased although the geographical land covered of such crops decreased by 2.1 percent. The report is based on study of economic activities from mid-July 2022 to mid-January 2023.

According to the report, the production of food and other grains increased by 5.7 percent as of mid-January in the current fiscal year. Likewise, vegetable and horticulture yields increased by 4.5 percent.    
However, the production of fruits and spices decreased by 5.2 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively, during the review period. According to the report, milk production increased by 1.4 percent and meat production by 1.7 percent.    
Likewise, in the half-yearly review report, production of eggs decreased by 26.3 percent. Similarly, the production of wood increased by 16.23 percent and medicinal products by 7.4 percent, the report stated.    
As of mid-January 2023 in the current fiscal year, the capacity use of industries has reached 43.7 percent in an average. In the review period, the flow of loan from banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to the industrial sector stood at 27.9 percent of the total credit flow.    
Number of real estate registration decreased by 50.03 percent and revenue generated through land registration reached Rs 9.9 billion, the report further said.    
The deposits of BFIs increased by 9.1 percent and loan flow by 4.1 percent as of mid-January 2023 in comparison to the corresponding period of last year.    
Number of vehicles registered as of mid-January 2023 increased by 4.1 percent compared to the same period of fiscal year 2022/23.    
The report further states the road expansion drive saw 34,075 km of road added to the existing road network while 3,018 bridges were constructed in the first six months of current fiscal year under the infrastructure sector.