The overall Balance of Payments (BoP) registered its highest ever surplus of Rs. 75.09 billion during the seven months of the fiscal year 2011/12 compared to a deficit of Rs. 13.04 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

According to the current microeconomic situation based on the seven month of this current fiscal year unveiled by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Sunday, the current account posted a surplus of Rs. 34.67 billion compared to a deficit of Rs. 6.67 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The rise in the growth of remittance along with improvement in the service account was the responsible factors for the substantial surplus in the current account, reads the report.

In US$ terms, the overall BoP recorded a surplus of US$ 956.6 million during the seven months of the review period in comparison to a deficit of US$ 176.7 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Similarly, the current account registered a surplus of US$ 433.7 million during the seven months of the review year compared to a deficit of US$ 89.8 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The Free on Board (FoB)-based merchandise trade deficit increased by 17.1 percent to Rs. 204.32 billion during the seven months of the fiscal year 2011/12. Such deficit had fallen by 1.7 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Net service account witnessed a surplus of Rs. 10.05 billion during the review period in contrast to a deficit of Rs. 6.0 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

During the review period, service receipts rose by 35.1 percent while service expenditures declined by 15.1 percent.

Under services, tourism income rose by 28.4 percent in the first seven months of the fiscal year 2011/12 in contrast to a decline by 21.1 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Under services, there was a decline in total travel expenses by 27.2 percent, including educational expenses by 24.9 percent.

The net transfer account registered a growth of 30.2 percent to Rs. 222.12 billion in the review period compared to that of a year ago.

Under transfers, while pension receipts declined by 1.2 percent to Rs. 15.44 billion, workers' remittances increased by 35.5 percent to Rs.188.19 billion compared to a growth of 11.7 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In US$ terms, remittance inflow increased by 25.0 percent to US$ 2.39 billion in the review period compared to a growth of 14.7 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Likewise, under the financial account, foreign direct investment of Rs 5.61 billion was recorded in the review period compared to such investment of Rs 4.84 billion in the same period a year ago. nepalnews.com