By Laxman Kafle (KATHMANDU, 17 August 2019) – Nepal is enjoying trade surplus only with 23 of its 156 trade partner countries.
As per the annual trade statistics of the Department of Customs (DoC), the country had trade surplus with Slovenia, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Estonia, Iceland, Guinea, El Salvador, Sudan, Monaco, Maldives, New Caledonia, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles and Azerbaijan
Likewise, Nepal had trade surplus with Panama, Algeria, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Yemen, Kazakhstan and Armenia.
But the surplus amount has remained too low to contain the ever widening trade deficit of the country.
In relation with the total amount, Nepal’s trade has been in higher surplus with Central African Republic (Rs. 275.8 million) followed by Algeria (Rs. 84.6 million), Yemen (Rs. 35.8 million), New Caledonia (Rs. 20.06 million) and Slovenia (Rs. 8.9 million).
Nepal exported goods worth Rs. 277.5 million to the Central African Republic against the import worth Rs. 1.7 million.
During the review period, Nepal enjoyed trade surplus of Rs. 6.7 million with Monaco, of Rs. 6.1 million with the Maldives of Rs. 1.4 million with Afghanistan and of Rs. 5.6 million with Iceland.
Nepal’s trade with nine countries, including Azerbaijan, Panama, Algeria, Bermuda, Antique and Barbuda, Bahamas, Yemen, Kazakhstan and Armenia has remained surplus without import from these countries.
Nepal exported goods worth Rs. 1.8 million to Azerbaijan, worth Rs. 2.3 million to Panama, worth Rs. 84.6 million to Algeria, worth Rs. 561,000 to Bermuda and worth Rs. 278,000 to Antigua and Barbuda.
Bahamas imported Nepali goods worth Rs. 1.2 million, Yemen worth Rs. 35.8 million, Kazakhstan worth Rs. 782,000 and Armenia worth Rs. 2.3 million.
Nepal faced trade deficit worth Rs. 2.57 billion with United States over the year while trade had remained surplus with US a year back.
Nepal’s highest amount of trade deficit is with its neighbours, India and China, the two biggest trading partners.
Nepal’s trade deficit with India reached Rs. 855.19 billion while with China it reached Rs. 203.4 billion.Similarly, Nepal has the third biggest trade deficit with the United Arab Emirates at Rs. 35.01 billion.
The country’s trade deficit reached over Rs. 1,321 billion last fiscal year. Trade surplus countries in 2018/19 (Rs. ‘000)