Nepal government has decided to lift the import ban on goods including diamonds, television sets (larger than 32 inches), playing cards, toys, snacks and tobacco products from August 30 after a five-month long ban.
The decision comes after a slight improvement in the foreign exchange reserves. However, restrictions on the import of automobile, mobile phones (above 300 dollars), liquor and motorcycles will remain until October 14.
The decision taken by the Cabinet meeting held on Monday on the recommendation of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply is published in the Nepal Gazette on Tuesday.
President of Nepal Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), Dhruba Thapa, said that it was a wrong move to allow import of other luxury items by restricting import of vehicles. “Although automobiles account for only 1 percent of the total imports, they contribute 9 percent of the total revenue,” said Thapa.
As per government officials, the decision was made after reaching conclusion that the import of goods costing high amount will be stopped for some time. As of mid-July, Nepal’s foreign exchange reserves is 9.54 billion US dollars which is enough to meet the import of goods and services for 6.94 months.
The total amount of import in the first month of the current fiscal year has declined 12.90 percent to Rs131.28 billion as compared to the same period last fiscal year.
