Himal Press 
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KATHMANDU: Nepal’s gross foreign exchange reserves rose by 19.6% over the first five months of 2025/26, reflecting a strong external position supported by robust remittance inflows and sustained balance of payments surpluses.
According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report published by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Friday, gross foreign exchange reserves increased to Rs 3,201.47 billion by mid-December, up from Rs 2,677.68 billion in mid-July.
In US dollar terms, reserves grew by 13.5 percent to 22.13 billion from 19.50 billion over the same period.
Of the total reserves, those held by the central bank went up by 18.7% to Rs 2,866.47 billion in mid-December from Rs 2,414.64 billion in mid-July. Similarly, reserves held by banks and financial institutions, excluding the central bank, increased at an even higher rate of 27.4% to Rs 335 billion. The share of Indian currency in total reserves stood at 22.2%.
According to the central bank, reserves are sufficient to cover prospective merchandise imports for 21.7 months and merchandise and services imports for 18.2 months.
Reserves-to-GDP ratio also improved to 52.4% from 43.8%, reserves-to-imports to 151.9% from 128.1%, and reserves-to-broad money to 39.4% from 34.1 percent compared to mid-July.
Meanwhile, the current account posted a surplus of Rs 358.83 billion during the review period, more than double the Rs 158.45 billion surplus recorded in the same period of the previous fiscal year. In US dollar terms, the surplus widened to $2.54 billion from $1.18 billion.
Strong remittance inflows remained the main driver of the external sector strength. Remittances surged by 35.6% to Rs 870.31 billion in the first five months of FY 2025/26, compared to Rs 641.87 billion a year earlier. Foreign direct investment (equity only) also increased by 24% to Rs.7.47 billion, while net capital transfers doubled to Rs 7.06 billion.
The balance of payments (BoP) remained firmly in surplus at Rs 421.89 billion.
