HANOI, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is likely under pressure of increasing state budget deficit in the remaining months of 2016, according to a report by the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC) on Wednesday.
The expansion is due to anticipated rapid rise in investments for fundamental construction, said the NFSC in its latest economic report.
As of mid-August this year, Vietnam suffered from state budget deficit of nearly 111.5 trillion Vietnamese dong (4.98 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 43.8 percent of the whole year's estimate.
Although budget deficit dropped by 1.135 trillion Vietnamese dong (some 51 million U.S. dollars) against the same period last year, NFSC said that budget deficit would expand in the remaining months as investments in fundamental construction were rapidly rising.
As of mid-August, disbursed investments in construction made up 42.2 percent of the year's estimate, compared to 36.2 percent during the seven-month period.
During eight-month period, on average, Vietnam's crude oil was sold at 41 U.S. dollars per barrel, some 19 U.S. dollars lower than the estimated price.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the country's state budget revenue totaled at 649.46 trillion Vietnamese dong (29.12 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of 2016, up 5.3 percent year-on-year, accounting for 64 percent of the year estimate.
The finance ministry said it would improve budget collection in the remaining months of this year by tightening tax management, especially tax arrears.
