Kathmandu: The remittance inflow in the country increased by 7.3 percent until the first seven months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year, according to the central bank. Issuing a report on the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal on Monday based on seven months’ data ending mid-February, the Nepal Rastra Bank stated that remittance inflows increased 7.3 percent to Rs 900.58 billion in the review period compared to an increase of 18.8 percent in the same period of the previous year.
According to National News Agency Nepal, in US Dollar terms, remittance inflows increased by 5.3 percent to 6.65 billion in the review period compared to an increase of 16.4 percent in the same period of the previous year. During this period, a total of 274,622 Nepali migrant workers, both institutional and individual, received first-time approval for foreign employment, and 190,886 individuals received approval for renewal entry.
Consumer price inflation stood at 4.16 percent in mid-February 2025 compared to 5.01 percent a year ago. The central bank’s report stated that food and beverage inflation was 4.95 percent, whereas non-food and service inflation was 3.74 percent in the review month. Net services income recorded a deficit of Rs 50.22 billion compared to a deficit of Rs 36.38 billion in the same period of the previous year.
Under the service account, travel income increased by 7.7 percent to Rs 49.21 billion in the review period, up from Rs 45.68 billion in the same period of the previous year. Travel payments increased by 10.6 percent to Rs 115.88 billion, including Rs 64.15 billion for education.
The report also highlighted that the total expenditure of provincial governments stood at Rs 51.90 billion, while resource mobilization reached Rs 101.89 billion. This total resource mobilization includes grants and revenue transferred from the federal government amounting to Rs 80.94 billion and revenue and other receipts of the provincial governments amounting to Rs 20.95 billion.
In the review period, recurrent expenditure, capital expenditure, and financial expenditure amounted to Rs 522.63 billion, Rs 68.42 billion, and Rs 163.81 billion, respectively. Of the total foreign exchange reserves, those held by NRB increased by 13.9 percent to Rs 2105.14 billion in mid-February 2025 from Rs 1848.55 billion in mid-July 2024. Reserves held by banks and financial institutions (except NRB) increased by 37.1 percent to Rs 263.93 billion in mid-February 2025 from Rs 192.55 billion in mid-July 2024.
The report stated that based on the imports of seven months of 2024/25, the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector are sufficient to cover the prospective merchandise imports of 17.2 months, and merchandise and services imports of 14.4 months. Furthermore, the Balance of Payments (BOP) in the review period remained at a surplus of Rs 284.41 billion compared to a surplus of Rs 297.72 billion in the same period of the previous year.