By Our Reporter  The post-monsoon rains wreaked havoc across the country when the people were in a festive mood, killing 117 persons and damaging property worth Rs. 10 billion. Province 1 and Sudurpaschin provinces were hit worst whereas in the southern plains paddy farmers were affected the most by the off seasonal downpour. The Home Ministry has confirmed the death toll at 117 whereas the Agriculture Ministry said paddy worth over Rs. 8 billion was damaged. Panchthar, Ilam and Sunsari in Province 1, Doti and Bajhang in Sudur Paschim and Humal in Karnali saw the largest fatalities. Thirty-two others have still been missing since the disasters. Similarly, 44 persons have been injured and 131 houses, 101 of them completely, were damaged in the rains. Meanwhile, paddy worth about Rs. 8.26 billion has been lost to floods and landslides caused by the post-monsoon rains across the country. According to a preliminary report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy grown in about 85,580 hectares of land in all seven provinces was damaged by floods caused by the continuous rains for several days. The Ministry said that around 325,258 tonnes of paddy worth Rs. 8.26 billion produced in 85,580 hectares has been damaged by the unseasonal rains. The highest loss of 161,223 tonnes of paddy worth Rs. 4.51 billion was in Lumbini Province, according to the Ministry. Similarly, 68,400 tonnes of paddy worth Rs. 1.91 billion has been damaged in Sudurpashchim Province, 28,469 tonnes of paddy worth Rs. 800 million in Province 1 and 20,250 tonnes worth Rs. 560 million in Province 2. The rain has caused damage to paddy crops worth Rs. 300 million (40,219 tonnes) in Karnali Province, Rs. 130 million (4,530 tonnes) in Gandaki Province, and Rs. 58 million (2,068 tonnes) in Bagmati Province. Nepal records a negative balance of payments again Indicators of the national economy have been negative again, hinting at an imminent economic crisis. Although the inflation came down to 3.39 per cent from 4.52 a year ago, all other indicators are disappointing. Nepal’s current account has remained at a deficit of Rs. 106.75 billion in the last three months against a surplus of Rs. 25.16 billion in the same period as of the previous year. In the US dollar terms, the current account registered a deficit of 901.5 million in the review period against a surplus of 210.0 million in the same period last year. In the review period, capital transfer decreased by 36.3 per cent to Rs. 1.25 billion and net foreign direct investment (FDI) increased by 24.6 per cent to Rs. 3.04 billion. In the same period of the previous year, capital transfer and net FDI amounted to Rs. 1.96 billion and Rs. 2.44 billion respectively. In the meantime, the balance of payments (BOP) remained at a deficit of Rs. 83.41 billion in the review period against a surplus of Rs. 67.63 billion in the same period of the previous year. In the US dollar terms, the BOP remained at a deficit of 704.3 million in the review period against a surplus of 566.2 million in the same period of the previous year. The gross foreign exchange reserves decreased by 6.6 per cent to Rs. 1,306.95 billion in mid-September 2021 from Rs. 1,399.03 billion in mid-July 2021. In US dollar terms, the gross foreign exchange reserves decreased by 5.2 per cent to 11.14 billion in mid-September 2021 from 11.75 billion in mid-July 2021. Of the total foreign exchange reserves, reserves held by NRB decreased by 7.7 per cent to Rs. 1148.69 billion in mid-September 2021 from Rs. 1244.63 billion in mid-July 2021, said Nepal Rastra Bank. Reserves held by banks and financial institutions (except NRB) increased by 2.5 per cent to Rs. 158.27 billion in mid-September 2021 from Rs. 154.39 billion in mid-July 2021. The share of Indian currency in total reserves stood at 24.2 per cent in mid-September 2021. The remittance inflow has declined by 6.3 per cent to Rs. 155.37 billion in the review period against an increase of 8.1 per cent in the same period of the previous year. In the US dollar terms, remittance inflow has decreased by 5.8 per cent to 1.31 billion in the review period against an increase of 2.6 per cent in the same period of the previous year, NRB said. The number of Nepali workers (institutional and individual - new and legalised) taking approval for foreign employment increased significantly to 38,492 in the review period. It had decreased by 99.2 per cent in the same period of the previous year.