Money
Rising dollar to make festive goods dearer
Festive shoppers will have to open their wallets wider for their purchases this season as imports are set to become dearer with the Nepali rupee falling against the US dollar.Festive shoppers will have to open their wallets wider for their purchases this season as imports are set to become dearer with the Nepali rupee falling against the US dollar. Prices of edible oil, pulses, dries fruits, consumer electronics, apparels and automobiles imported from third countries, for which payment has to be made in dollars, are expected to rise due to the rupee’s depreciation.
As importers have started placing their orders for goods meant for the upcoming Dashain and Tihar festivals, this festive season is expected to be more expensive for general consumers.
The Nepali rupee plunged to Rs106.04 against the US dollar on Tuesday along with the Indian rupee with which it is pegged. Although most of the imported vehicles come from India, some auto dealers source vehicles from Thailand and South Korea.
“As we import our vehicles directly from South Korea by paying for them in US dollars, a rising dollar will definitely make our vehicles costlier,” said Ugendra Shrestha, assistant general manager of Continental Associates, the authorised distributor of Kia Motors in Nepal. He added that auto parts would also become dearer in the coming days.
Subash Shrestha, sales and marketing manager of Nepa Hima Trade Link, said that prices of new electronic items from Sony could go up as per the stronger greenback. Nepal Hima brings televisions and mobile sets from Singapore.
“The US dollar has a direct impact on the price of our products,” said Shrestha. Although the Nepali rupee had remained weak against the US dollar in recent times, China’s devaluation of its currency against the dollar pushed it further down.
With frequent strikes affecting imported products, essential items like pulses and edible oil will be affected further by the rising dollar, said traders.
Manish Agrawal, director of Shree Krishna Oil Refinery, said that if the dollar continued to appreciate, the import price of palm oil would rise and affect the price of edible oil. The country imports palm oil from Indonesia, Ukraine, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Brazil and Belize.
The price of pulses, which has been skyrocketing for the last three months, could swell further in the coming days, said traders.