Remittances rise in first two months, forex reserves cross 4 trillion rupees

According to data released by Nepal Rastra Bank on Thursday, both remittance inflows and foreign exchange reserves rose in the first two months of the current fiscal year.

About 436 billion rupees in remittances flowed in during Shrawan and Bhadra, up about 24 percent from the same period last year. In Bhadra alone, nearly 221 billion rupees flowed in, compared to about 175 billion rupees in the same month last year.

In US dollar terms, remittances rose about 13.5 percent to reach nearly 2.85 billion dollars. The number of people taking new labor permits for foreign employment fell to about 78,000, down from more than 90,000 last year, while the number taking renewed labor permits rose to about 52,000.

Total foreign exchange reserves rose about 4 percent from the end of Asar to cross 4,065 billion rupees. In dollar terms, the reserves reached about 2.648 billion dollars.

Nepal Rastra Bank stated that these reserves are sufficient to cover about 21 months of merchandise imports and nearly 18 months of goods and services imports. Annual point-to-point consumer inflation in Bhadra stood at about 6.3 percent.