Nepal running low on foreign exchange, discourages imports

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
Associated Press

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal is running low on foreign currency reserves needed to import medicines, oil products, cars and a range of other items, and officials say they will run out in seven months if things don’t improve. The central bank says it has increased interest rates to discourage people from buying imports and help extend the foreign reserves. It says there already are signs that the situation is getting better with the slowing of the pandemic. More tourists have begun to arrive and increasing numbers of Nepalese are going abroad to earn foreign currency and send it back home. Nepal has few exports and imports almost everything from abroad.