Nepal's total foreign trade rose by 24 percent during the first eight months of the current Nepali fiscal year (July 16, 2005-July 15, 2006), Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said here Wednesday.

"Nepal's total foreign trade reached 160.79 billion Nepali rupees (2.3 billion U.S. dollars) during the first eight months of the current fiscal year, rose by 24 percent as compared the same period of last Nepali fiscal year," said the NRB, the central bank in the country, in a latest report.

The total imports of the country expanded by 27.9 percent while total exports posted a lower growth of 14.7 percent, the report revealed.

The total imports reached 117.48 billion Nepali rupees (1.68 billion U.S. dollars), the report noted, adding, "While total exports remained at 43.31 billion Nepali rupees (618.71 million U. S. dollars)."

Higher growth in imports, as compared to exports expanded the trade imbalance, with trade deficit widening by 37.1 percent during the period.

According to the statistics of NRB, the country's trade deficit touched 74.16 billion Nepali rupees (1.06 billion U.S. dollars), while it was 54.10 billion Nepali rupees (772.86 million US dollars) during the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Of the total trade, trade with India increased by 30.6 percent to 102.07 billion Nepali rupees (1.46 billion U.S. dollars), while trade with other countries went up by 14.1 percent to 58.71 billion Nepali rupees (838.71 million U.S. dollars), the report added.

Source: Xinhua