Kathmandu. In the first five months of the current fiscal year 2082/83, Nepal has suffered a trade deficit of more than Rs 339.02 billion with India.

During the review period, goods worth Rs 434.06 billion were imported from India and goods worth Rs 95.05 billion were exported.

Likewise, China imported Rs 163.73 billion while exports amounted to Rs 466.8 million. Nepal has suffered a loss of Rs 163.26 billion during the period.

Romania has been ranked first among the countries in which Nepal has made trade profit. In the last five months, Nepal’s total foreign trade profit with Romania has been Rs 63.46 million. Similarly, Nepal has trade surplus with countries like Sweden and Iraq.

The import of petroleum products is the highest during this period. According to the department, diesel worth Rs 45.60 billion, petrol worth Rs 27.33 billion and cooking gas worth Rs 22.39 billion were imported in the last five months. Imports included smartphones worth Rs 19.13 billion, crude soybean oil worth Rs 46.97 billion and iron products worth Rs 21.84 billion.

Soybean oil is in the first position among the goods exported by Nepal. Soybean oil worth Rs 46.55 billion was exported during the period. Similarly, cardamom worth Rs 5.53 billion, carpet worth Rs 4.13 billion and sunflower oil worth Rs 3.73 billion were exported to Nepal.

The country has suffered a deficit of Rs 649.68 billion out of the total foreign trade of Rs 882.69 billion till mid-November.

According to the five-month foreign trade status report released by the Department of Customs, imports amounted to Rs 766.18 billion and exports amounting to Rs 116.50 billion. Imports increased by 15.83 per cent and exports by 58.17 per cent in comparison to the same period last year, the Department stated.