The contribution of remittance towards the Gross National Product (GNP) has increased by more than five percent of the GNP in the last five years, from 11.5 percent in 2000-01 fiscal year to 16.8 percent in 2005-06. At the same time, the contribution from exports has decreased to 29.4 percent in 2005-06 from 34.5 in the previous year.

With the growth in remittance, the foreign exchange earnings reached 46.7 percent in 2005-06 from 36.6 percent in the previous year thereby building up the strength of the balance of payment.

According to the Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) report on ‘Inflow of Workers’ Remittances: Nepal’s Experiences’ made public during the SAARC-Finance seminar on Management of Workers’ Remittances in SAARC Countries on Wednesday, the inflow of remittances through official channels registered a rise from Rs 47.53 billion in 2001-02 to Rs 97.68 billion in 2005-06.

Import-Export decrease

In the meantime, the report on the overall economic status of the last eight months published by the Bank has revealed that the total export has decreased by 6.6 percent compared to 13.3 percent growth recorded in the same period last year. Import also decreased by 1.1 percent compared to 26.6 percent growth in the same period last year.

The inflation rate on retail market has also increased unexpectedly to 12.2 percent in the last eight months compared to 6.2 percent in the same period last year. However the consumer inflation has registered reduction from 7.7 percent to 6.2 percent.