Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba
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<strong>Amid rising economic challenges owing to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic, Nepal&rsquo;s import bill touched the 1 trillion rupee mark in the first half of the current financial year&mdash;an year on year increase of 51.1 per cent.</strong></p>
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The Sher Bahadur Deuba administration, which took charge only in July last year, is already looking at ways to curb imports of non essential items.</p>
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This is the second time after 2017-18 that Kathmandu&rsquo;s imports touched this level.</p>
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&ldquo;The amount that Nepal spent to buy foreign goods in six months is one-fourth of the country&rsquo;s annual value of goods and services produced in the country of gross domestic product (GDP) or equal to earnings that Nepali migrant workers sent home last year,&rdquo; <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/national/2022/01/24/country-s-imports-hit-rs1-trillion-mark-in-the-first-half-of-the-fiscal-year">the Kathmandu Post</a> said.</p>
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<strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/economy-news/india-nepal-sign-pact-on-energy-trading-142752.html">India, Nepal sign pact on energy trading</a></strong></p>
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In 2017-18, Nepal&rsquo;s imports had surged due to the reconstruction exercise after it was hit by a deadly earthquake that left over 8,900 people dead and many more injured.</p>
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The need for Nepal to increase its food imports has also risen. Food imports into the country have been rising even before the outbreak of the pandemic.</p>
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According to ResearchGate the steady increase in food imports &ldquo;signals not only the growing dependency trends but also raises serious questions about the future of the agricultural sector in the country-a potential threat to national security and sovereignty.&rdquo;</p>
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Reports suggest that Himalayan country imports of key agricultural products between 2015 to 2020 jumped 65 per cent. &nbsp;</p>
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