October 30 (SeeNews) - Moldova's budget deficit reached 1.963 billion lei ($178 million/120 million euro) in the first nine months of 2009, the country's Finance Ministry said on Friday.
The ministry gave no comparative figures for the year-ago period but figures released last year showed a 100 million lei budget gap in the first nine months of 2008.
Budget revenue reached 9.6 billion lei in the first nine months of this year, down by 15% on the year, while spending totalled 11.6 billion lei, up by an annual 1.2%, the ministry said in a statement.
Moldova paid 590.4 million lei to service its foreign debt in January to September, including 423.6 million lei in principal.
The government of the ex-Soviet state of four million people paid 516.8 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=16.358 Moldovan lei)