Nepal’s forex reserves hit record high

KATHMANDU, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Nepal registered a record of 16.04 billion U.S. dollars in foreign exchange reserves as of mid-September, the central bank has said.
The figure marked a 5 percent rise over mid-July when the 2023-24 fiscal year ended, and the forex reserves are sufficient to cover prospective merchandise imports for 16.8 months and merchandise and services imports for 13.7 months, the Nepal Rastra Bank said Tuesday in its latest report.
The bank attributed the ballooning figure to continuous inflow of remittances, growing tourism incomes and a tepid growth in imports.
Nepal received remittances worth 1.96 billion dollars during the first two months of the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The flow of remittances equaled around a quarter of Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP) in recent years, according to the World Bank. ■