WEB DESK
In Nepal, government has extended an 81-day-old import ban on 10 types of goods till the end of August, citing a lack of improvement in the country’s foreign currency reserves.
As per the notice published in Nepal Gazette yesterday, mobile phones priced over 300 dollars and motorcycles with an engine capacity of over 150 ccs shall be barred entry till 30th of August along with liquor, tobacco products, diamond, color TV sets larger than 32 inches, jeeps, cars and vans, dolls, playing cards, and snacks. The government notice said, the ban is enforced to safeguard the external financial position and balance of payments in order to forestall any imminent threat to the economy.
According to media reports, the ban, first imposed in late April, should have run till mid-July, when the current fiscal year ended.
Nepal Rastra Bank in a statement said, as of the first 11 months of the 2021-22 fiscal year that ended on Saturday, Nepal’s forex reserves had decreased 19.6 percent to 9.45 billion dollars from 11.75 billion dollars in mid-July 2021. However, the central bank data also show that there had been a slight improvement in the inflow of remittances, the largest source of forex earnings for Nepal, during the same period. Farmers across the country are facing shortages of chemical fertilizers and inflation is also rising to double digits.