BoP records highest surplus of Rs. 127 b

The overall Balance of Payment (BoP) recorded its highest ever surplus of Rs. 127.70 billion in the fiscal year 2011/12 compared to a surplus of Rs. 2.18 billion in the previous fiscal year 2010/11.

The current account posted a surplus of Rs. 75.98 billion in the review year compared to a deficit of Rs. 12.94 billion in the previous year.

The substantial rise in the growth of remittances and the improvement in the service account were the responsible factors for the encouraging surplus in the current account, according to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

In US$ terms, the overall BoP recorded a surplus of US$ 1.57 billion in the review year in comparison to a surplus of US$ 34.7 million in the previous year.

Similarly, the current account registered a surplus of US$ 909.0 million in the review year as against a deficit of US$ 177.0 million in the previous year.

The Free on Board (FoB) based merchandise trade deficit rose by 16.7 percent to Rs. 373.14 billion in the review year while the deficit had increased by 5.3 percent in the previous year. The net service account witnessed a surplus of Rs. 14.06 billion during the review year in contrast to a deficit of Rs. 8.67 billion in the previous year.

Under services, tourism income rose by 24.8 percent in the review year in contrast to a decline by 12.5 percent in the previous year. The net transfers registered a growth of 37.3 percent to Rs. 422.77 billion in the review year compared to that of the previous year.

Under transfers, workers' remittances surged by 41.8 percent to Rs. 359.55 billion compared to a growth of 9.4 percent in the previous year. On a monthly basis, remittance inflows increased by 2.1 percent in June/July compared to the value of the previous month of the review year.

In US$ terms, remittance inflows increased by 25.8 percent to US$ 4.41 billion in the review year compared to a growth of 12.0 percent in the previous year.

Likewise, under the financial account, foreign direct investment of Rs. 9.20 billion was recorded during the review year compared to such investment of Rs. 6.44 billion in the previous year. nepalnews.com