Nepal Remittances Rise 23.9 Percent to Rs 436.36 Billion

Nepal received Rs 436.36 billion in remittances in the first two months of fiscal year 2026/27, up 23.9 percent from a year earlier. Nepal Rastra Bank released the figures on October 15, 2026. The period ended in mid September 2026, on September 16, 2026.

The second month alone brought Rs 221.31 billion. The first month brought Rs 215.05 billion. In dollar terms, the two month total was 2.85 billion dollars, up 13.5 percent.

How the two months fit together

The fiscal year opened on July 17. The first month ran to August 16 and brought Rs 215.05 billion, up 21.2 percent on the same month a year earlier, according to the central bank report dated September 18 and covered by Asia Daily. The second month added Rs 221.31 billion, which is Rs 6.26 billion more than the first month, a rise of about 2.9 percent month to month. Against the same month a year earlier the jump was much bigger: inflows rose from Rs 174.67 billion to Rs 221.31 billion, up Rs 46.64 billion, or about 26.7 percent. That is what lifted the two month growth rate from 21.2 percent after month one to 23.9 percent after month two.

Fewer new approvals, more money home

The rise came even as fewer workers took new approval to work abroad. New approvals fell to 78,320 in the two months, down from 90,198 a year earlier, a drop of 11,878, or about 13.2 percent. Re entry approvals rose to 52,163, up from 45,884, a rise of about 13.7 percent. Added together, approvals came to 130,483, down about 4.1 percent on a year earlier, and returning workers made up roughly 40 percent of the total, up from about 33.7 percent.

That split matters for families in Nepal and for workers already abroad. Money is coming from people already in jobs overseas, not only from a new wave leaving. Approvals count permission to leave in a given period. Remittances count transfers from the much larger group of Nepalis already working abroad, so the two numbers can move in opposite directions in the same report.

For households, remittances pay for food, school, health care, loans and savings. Dashain spending is under way now, and money sent home in August and September lands right before the festival season at home.

Reserves rose, prices rose too

Foreign exchange reserves rose to Rs 4,065.78 billion by mid September, up Rs 168.11 billion, or 4.3 percent, from Rs 3,897.67 billion at the start of the fiscal year. In dollar terms, reserves reached 26.48 billion dollars, up 4.6 percent from 25.31 billion dollars, enough to cover 17 months and 24 days of goods and services imports, based on the figures in the report coverage. Indian currency made up 21.3 percent of the total in mid September.

The reserves matter because Nepal's import bill is large. In the first month, merchandise imports reached Rs 187.44 billion, up 31 percent on a year earlier, while exports rose 61.7 percent from a much smaller base to Rs 38.70 billion. The trade deficit for that month was Rs 148.74 billion. Remittances in the same month, Rs 215.05 billion, were larger than that deficit, and the current account recorded a surplus of Rs 94.59 billion.

Prices took part of the gain back. Consumer inflation reached 6.34 percent in mid September, up from 1.87 percent a year earlier. Food and beverage inflation reached 7.54 percent, while non food and services prices rose 5.69 percent. In the first month, ghee and oil prices rose 15.62 percent, fruit 15.39 percent and transport 13.17 percent. A family receiving more money from abroad still pays more at the shop.

What to watch

The next report will show whether the second month pace holds. Watch the dollar figure as well as the rupee figure. Rupee growth can look stronger when the currency is weaker. This time both rose, the rupee total by 23.9 percent and the dollar total by 13.5 percent. Dollar growth was still slower than a year earlier, when it reached 27.6 percent for the same two months. Both numbers point the same way. Workers abroad sent more home, and fewer new workers left to do it.