August 24 (SeeNews) - Moldova plans to cut the budget deficit to 6.2% of the projected gross domestic product (GDP) for 2022 under a second revision of the state budget, the government said on Wednesday.
In April, Modova revised its budget, setting the deficit at 7.1% of GDP, up from 6.7% of GDP set in the initial budget.
The latest revision, which is still pending approval by parliament, sees the 2022 budget deficit at 17.24 billion lei ($895 million/900.1 million euro), down 11% from the April estimate, the government said in a press release.
In 2022, revenues are estimated at 57.97 billion lei, up 10% compared to April, while expenses are seen at 75.2 billion lei, up 4.3% from the previous forecast, according to revised bill draft posted on the government's website.
The share of state debt in GDP at the end of 2022 will not exceed 36.1%, totaling some 101 billion lei, according to the document.
The government also revised its 2022 economic forecast to zero from 0.3% to reflect the economic spill-over effects of the war on Ukraine and the strong rise in energy prices, finance minister Dumitru Budianschi said during a live-streamed government meeting on Wednesday.
"The main reasons for the 2022 budget bill change are a revised macroeconomic forecast, a change in estimated revenues and expenses following events in the first half of the year and the need to mitigate negative effects of existing crises on the public and private sectors, as well as on the population," Budianschi said.
The revision was agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives during their visit at the end of July, he added.
Moldova's economy grew by 13.9% in real terms in 2021, following a 8.3% contraction in the previous year due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from the statistics office.
On August 10, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it will disburse $27 million (27.1 million euro) to Moldova under an extended credit facility in order to help the country cope with the impact of the war in Ukraine and surging international energy and food prices.
(1 euro =19.1518 Moldovan lei)