Current account remains at a surplus of Rs 78 billion: NRB

Kathmandu, Sept 16: The current account remained at a surplus of Rs 78.14 billion in the first month of the current fiscal year against the surplus of Rs 33.08 billion in the same period of the previous year, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). "In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a surplus of 561 million in the review period against a surplus of 246.8 million in the same period of the previous year," the NRB shared on Monday releasing the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal based on one month data ending mid-August. In the first month of the current fiscal year, Rs 691.5 million foreign direct investment (equity only) was received, while the amount was nearly Rs 800 million in the same period of the previous year. In the review period, net capital transfer amounted to Rs 1.04 billion. In the same period of the previous year, such transfer amounted to Rs 223.2 million. Likewise, the Balance of Payments (BOP) remained at a surplus of Rs 89.30 billion in the review period. Such surplus was Rs 40.90 billion in the previous year, the NRB stated. The gross foreign exchange reserves increased 4.8 percent to Rs 2806.04 billion in mid-August 2025 from Rs 2677.68 billion in mid-July 2025. Of the total foreign exchange reserves, the reserves held by the NRB increased 4.0 percent to Rs 2511.45 billion in mid-August from Rs 2414.64 billion in mid-July. Reserves held by banks and financial institutions increased 12 percent to Rs 294.58 billion in mid-August from Rs 263 billion in mid-July. The NRB shared that the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector is sufficient to cover the prospective merchandise imports of 20.4 months, and merchandise and services imports of 16.6 months based on the imports of the first month of 2025/26.