Inward foreign remittance grew significantly last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic effecting the global economy badly. The Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) in one of its latest reports revealed that the country received a total USD 159.24 million (approximately Nu 11.7 billion) remittance in 2020.

Prices of goods rose by 7.75 percent in October 2020 compared to the same month in the previous year, the National Statistics Bureau (NSB) reported in its latest CPI report released on December 31, 2021.

The government is trying to minimise the impact of the second nationwide lockdown as the number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase.

A National Statistics Bureau report shows that Bhutan’s trade deficit improved by -32.42 percent last year. The trade balance in current prices was recorded at a deficit of Nu 29.124 billion (B) in 2019, which accounted for 16.34 percent of the GDP.

In what could be read as a positive sign, the inflation rate decreased in August after a record high commodity prices in July that were sent ratcheting up by the Covid-19-induced disruptions in food supplies. 

Bhutan’s trade deficit declined by 32 percent in the first half of 2020 compared to figures for the same period of last year, provisional statistics published by the finance ministry show. In absolute figures, the trade deficit decreased to Nu 12.84 billion (B) from Nu 19B.