KATHMANDU: Nepal suffered a trade deficit of Rs 1177 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. During the review period, the country imported goods worth Rs 1303 billion while the export was limited to just Rs 126 billion, according to the Department of Customs.    

As of mid-May of the current fiscal year, the country recorded foreign trade worth Rs 1,429 billion, marking a decline of 2.50 percent compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year.

Furthermore, imports have decreased by 2.39 percent and exports by 3.61 percent during the review period.    

Record with the department show that Nepal suffered a trade loss of Rs 729 billion with India alone in the first ten months of the current fiscal year. Nepal imported goods worth Rs 815 billion from India while the export to India from Nepal stood at Rs 86 billion.

Similarly, Nepal recorded the second highest trade deficit of Rs 238 billion with neighboring China. In the review period, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 240 billion from China while it exported goods worth only Rs 22.74 billion.    

As of mid-May, the largest imports to Nepal were petroleum products, including petrol worth Rs 115.67 billion, diesel worth Rs 56.80 billion, and cooking gas worth Rs 46 billion.

In addition, Nepal imported mobile phones worth Rs 24 billion during the review period.    

Nepal's highest export was of carpet, worth Rs 8.79 billion followed by cardamom worth Rs 6.91 billion, iron worth Rs 5.52 billion and palm oil worth Rs 5.60 billion.