Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Remittance inflows increased by 7.3% to Rs 900.58 billion over the first seven months of 2024/25, compared to an 18.8% increase in the same period last year.
According to the Current Macroeconomic Situation Report for the first seven months of fiscal year 2024/25 released on Monday by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), remittances rose by 5.3% in US dollar terms in the review period reaching $6.65 billion.
The number of Nepali workers seeking foreign employment approvals also increased during the review period. According to the report, 274,622 workers received first-time approvals in the seven months and 190,886 renewed their permits. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, 245,432 had received first-time approvals, while 157,045 had received re-entry approvals
However, the services account remained under pressure in the review period, with a net deficit of Rs 50.22 billion, up from Rs 36.38 billion in the same period last year. Although travel income, primarily from tourism, increased by 7.7% to Rs 49.21 billion, travel payments surged by 10.6% to Rs 115.88 billion, driven largely by education-related expenses which accounted for Rs. 64.15 billion of the total.
Current account, however, recorded a surplus of Rs 166.80 billion, slightly higher than the Rs 162.52 billion surplus in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The current account surplus, in US dollar terms, stood at $1.24 billion. The Balance of Payments (BoP) also remained at a surplus of Rs 284.41 billion, though slightly lower than the surplus of Rs 297.72 billion in the previous year. In US dollar terms, the BOP surplus was $2.11 billion.’
Foreign Exchange Reserves Expands
Nepal’s gross foreign exchange reserves expanded by 16.1% to Rs 2,369.08 billion in seven months. According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, such reserves were at in mid-July 2024.
In US dollar terms, the gross foreign exchange reserves increased 11.7% to $17.05 billion in mid-February 2025, up from $15.27 billion in mid-July 2024.
The reserves held by the NRB grew by 13.9%, while those held by banks and financial institutions surged by 37.1%.
The central bank said in the report that the reserves are sufficient to cover 17.2 months of merchandise imports and 14.4 months of merchandise and services imports. The reserves-to-GDP ratio also improved to 41.5%, up from 35.8% in mid-July 2024.
