January 2: The first five months of the current fiscal year (FY) witnessed a decline in the export of national priority products.

There has been a decrease in the export of cardamom, leather and footwear, which fall in the priority list under the ‘Nepal Trade Integrition Strategy (NTIS).

Data published by the Trade Export Promotion Center (TEPC) on Monday, December 31, shows the decline in export of products of national priority. However, there was an increase in export of other products during the review period, according to the data.

In the first five months of the current FY, the country exported 1.495 million kg of black cardamom worth Rs 1.236 billion. The country had exported 1.814 million kg of black cardamom during the same period of last FY while the total export last year stood at 5.43 million kg.

It shows that the export of black cardamom in the first five months of this year plummeted by 23.8 percent. 

Likewise, the export of leather goods has also plunged down. A total of 3.73 million square feet of leather goods worth Rs 164.7 million were exported from the country in these five months. The export of leather goods in the corresponding  period of last year was double the amount of this year.

Similarly, the export of footwear also dropped by 24.1 percent this year. Last year, income generated by the export of footwear stood at Rs 633.8 million in the first five months while the income in the corresponding period of this year has been limited to Rs 480 million,. 

The government has included all kinds of agricultural products such as cardamom, , ginger, tea, herbs and domestic products including garments, readymade clothes, thread, pashmina, leather goods, shoes etc in the national priority list.

Sharad Bikram Rana, executive director of TEPC, said that overall export of the country is encouraging but the trade deficit is escalating because of low export compared to import.