Kathmandu, Dec. 6 -- A ballooning current account deficit due to increasing imports and weakening exports has taken a toll on Nepal's vulnerable external sector with officials saying that the existing foreign currency reserves won't be able to sustain imports for longer than eight months.

The current reserve of $9.56 billion will only be enough to finance imports of merchandise goods and services for 7.9 months even though Nepal Rastra Bank regulations require it to maintain a reserve enough for at least 8 months, according recent statistics released by the central bank.

As other sources of foreign currency like exports, tourism and foreign direct investment are not significant, Nepal has to rely largely on migrant workers' remittance t...