Himal Press 
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KATHMANDU: Nepal’s gross foreign exchange reserves expanded by 21.7% to Rs 1,872.82 billion in mid-March 2024, compared to Rs 1,539.36 billion in mid-July 2023.
According to the Current Macroeconomic Situation Report for the first eight months of 2023/24 published by the Nepal Rastra Bank on Thursday, gross foreign exchange reserves in US dollar terms rose by 20.8% to 14.14 billion in mid-March 2024 from 11.71 billion in mid-July 2023.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased by 22.2% to Rs 1644.06 billion in mid-March 2024 from Rs.1345.78 billion in mid-July 2023. Similarly, such reserves held by banks and financial institutions (except the central bank) rose by 18.2% to Rs 228.76 billion in mid-March 2024 from Rs 193.59 billion in mid-July 2023.
The share of Indian currency in total reserves stood at 22.1% in mid-March 2024, according to the report.
Based on the imports of the first eight months of 2023/24, the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector are sufficient to cover prospective merchandise imports for 14.8 months and merchandise and services imports for 12.4 months. The ratios of reserves-to-GDP and reserves-to-imports stood at 34.8% and 103.1%, respectively, in mid-March 2024.
Moreover, the current account remained at a surplus of Rs 166.87 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 55.28 billion in the same period of the previous year. In US Dollar terms, the current account registered a surplus of $1.25 billion in the review period against a deficit of $429.3 million in the same period last year.
In addition, capital transfer decreased by 30.2% to Rs 3.89 billion in the review period, while net foreign direct investment (FDI) remained positive at Rs 5.63 billion. The balance of payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 327.55 billion in the review period, compared to a surplus of Rs 142 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
In US Dollar terms, the BoP remained at a surplus of $2.46 billion in the review period against a surplus of $1.08 billion in the same period of the previous year.
