August 18: The indicators of inflation, current account deficit and foreign direct investment remained discouraging in the last fiscal year while indicators of remittance inflow, balance of payment and foreign exchange reserves was positive, according to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of Nepal for the fiscal year 2022/23 published by the Nepal Rastra Bank.    
The annual average consumer price inflation stood at 7.74 percent in the FY 2022/23 as compared to 6.32 percent in FY 2021/22. The government had set the target of keeping inflation within the limit of 7 percent.
Similarly, during the last FY, merchandise exports decreased by 21.4 percent to Rs 157.14 billion against an increase of 41.7 percent in the previous FY.    
The current account deficit stood at Rs 72.16 billion. In the review year, capital transfer decreased 24.5 percent to Rs 7.54 billion against Rs 9.99 billion in the previous FY, and net foreign direct investment remained at Rs 5.96 billion against Rs 18.56 billion.    
Remittance inflows increased 21.2 percent to Rs 1220.56 billion against an increase of 4.8 percent in the previous FY. In the US dollar terms, remittance inflows increased 12.1 percent to 9.33 billion in the review year as compared to an increase of 2.2 percent in the previous FY.    
Similarly, gross foreign exchange reserves increased 26.6 percent to Rs 1539.36 billion in mid-July 2023 from Rs 1215.80 in mid-July 2022. In the US dollar terms, gross foreign exchange reserves increased 23.1 percent to 11.74 during the same period against 9.54 billion during the same period in the previous FY.    
Deposits of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) increased 12.3 percent in the review year as compared to a growth of 9.0 percent in the previous FY. Private sector credit from BFIs increased 3.8 percent as opposed to a growth of 13.1 percent in the previous FY. -- RSS