Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has vowed to tame inflation, control rising interest rates and boost economic growth since taking office last month as the head of a seven-party coalition.
Data from the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) showed overall inflation in the month to mid-December was lower than the previous month's 8.08% but higher than 7.11% in the same period a year earlier.
Food and beverage inflation fell to 5.85% from 7.38% the previous month. Non-food and service inflation eased only slightly to 8.59% from 8.63% the previous month.
Other NRB data showed remittances from about five million Nepalis working mainly in the Middle East, Malaysia and Korea jumped 13.1% to $3.71 billion.
Nepal's economy, dependent on remittances, aid and tourism, saw its earnings from tourism jump 64.0% as of mid-December as tourists returned to the Himalayan nation, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains including Mount Everest.
The country's total foreign exchange reserves rose 3% in mid-December to $9.82 billion - enough to cover 8.7 months of imports - from mid-July levels, central bank data showed. Nepal's financial year runs from mid-July to mid-July.
(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Kim Coghill)
By Gopal Sharma
