September 10 (SeeNews) - Moldova's budget deficit reached 1.841 billion lei ($165 million/113 million euro) in the first eight months of 2009, the government's press office said on Thursday.
The press office gave no comparative figures for the year-ago period but figures released last year showed a 500 million lei budget gap in the first eight months of 2008.
Budget revenue reached 8.37 billion lei in the first eight months of this year, while spending totalled 10.2 billion lei, the press office said in a statement.
Moldova paid $46.4 million (32 million euro) to service its foreign debt in January to August, including $33.6 million in principal and $12.8 million in interest.
The government of the ex-Soviet state of four million people paid 459.8 million lei on its domestic debt in the period.
The country projects a 573.8 million lei gap under its 2009 budget bill, equivalent to 0.8% of the projected gross domestic product. It ended 2008 with a budget shortfall of 489.2 million lei, in line with the 495 million lei deficit target set in its 2008 budget bill.
(1 euro=16.2874 Moldovan lei)