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KATHMANDU: Nepal’s exports increased by 13 percent in the first half of Fiscal Year 2017/18, datae from the Department of Customs (DoC) shows. The country’s imports, however, grew 15.6 percent to a whopping Rs 535 billion in the review period — Rs 71.3 billion higher that total import bill of Rs 463.7 billion in the first six months of FY2016/17. The import-export ration stood at 13:1 in the review period, which means that the country’s imports are 13 times more than what it exports. Though export of carpet fell by nearly 12 percent in the review period, it was the country’s top export in the first half of FY2017/18. Statistics of DoC shows that the country exported carpet worth Rs 3.3 billion in the first half of FY2017/18. In the same period of the last fiscal year, Nepal had exported carpets worth Rs 3.74 billion. There is a high demand for hand-knotted Nepali carpet in different corners of the world, mainly the US, various European countries and also China,” Chhiring Sherpa, president of Central Carpet Industries Association, told Republica. “Demand for Nepali carpet from China has increased this year. Carpet export seems to have declined this year but the story is different as letter of credit (LoC) is still not in use for export of carpets to China,” Sherpa added. Cardamom was second in the list with total exports totaling Rs 2.7 billion, a rise of 54 percent compared to export receipt of Rs 1.75 billion in the first half of FY2017/18. The production of cardamom has increased by 25 to 30 percent this year. This resulted in higher exports this year,” Nirmal Bhattarai, president of Cardamom Traders Association Nepal, told Republica. Likewise, yarn with 85 percent or more fiber was the country’s 3rd largest exports in the review period. The rise in exports of yarn has been attributed to drastic rise in demand from Bangladesh. The export of polyester threads increased from Rs 1.54 billion in the first six months of FY2016/17 to nearly Rs 2.15 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year. Tea and non-alcoholic juices were the country’s fourth and fifth largest exports in the first half of the current fiscal year. Nepal exported tea worth Rs 1.97 billion a rise of 25.5 percent from Rs 1.57 billion in the first six months of FY2016/17. The increased export of tea is due to the halt in processing and distribution of tea in Darjeeling, India, due to the Gorkhaland movement. There has been a surge in demand for tea from India.
