PARSA, OCTOBER 19Although it is the festival season, traders in Birgunj city are awaiting customers.

The retailers have expressed worry over the declining market here as customers go beyond the border to Raxaul of India. In Hamas' horrific killings, Israeli trauma over the Holocaust resurfaces Narges Mohammadi wins the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting the oppression of women in Iran Customers go to Raxaul, an Indian city situated in the border, due to availability of goods at cheaper prices there.

However, shopkeepers in Birgunj city are bound to clear customs which results in dearer prices of goods.Clothes, food items, electronic and electrical goods are imported easily by individual customers from Raxaul, much to the agony of Nepali traders. A retailer Dipak Sharraf shared that the transaction was declining much in Birgunj due to high customs duty.

"If this trend continues, half of the shops in Birgunj will be shut," he warned.Similarly, a clothes trader Pankaj Rauniyar said, "This Dashain is dreary while there was hustle and bustle during last year's Dashain.

The transaction has declined sharply this year around."Another retailer Bikash Kumar Agrawal shared that the purchase of refrigerator, TV and washing machine decreased by 70 per cent compared to the festive season last year.He urged the government to bring reform in economic policy to restore retail transaction that was dwindling day by day.Traders in Birgunj city, the trade hub of the country, have called for government's serious intervention to restore the economy which was already in dire straits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Traders ask the government to restore economic growthA version of this article appears in the print on October 20, 2023, of The Himalayan Times .

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