HANOI, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's state budget deficit is estimated at 16.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, or 4 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Ministry of Finance.
That was lower than the 4.42 percent level estimated by the ministry at the beginning of this year.
Difficulties from the real estate market and banks have left an unfavorable impact on this year's state budget balance, the ministry said in the report submitted to the National Assembly's Standing Committee.
Import-export and foreign investment, important growth driver of the economy, has so far this year stagnated or decreased compared to the same period last year, according to the report.
By the end of this year, public debt is estimated to reach 39-40 percent of GDP, while government debt is set to hit 36-37 percent, and the country's foreign debt will likely land at 37-38 percent of GDP, VnExpress reported on Monday.
Vietnam posted a budget revenue of over 1,223 trillion Vietnamese dong (50.1 billion dollars) in the first nine months of this year, an annual decrease of 8.3 percent. ■