Moldova's state budget deficit up 40% in Q1

CHISINAU. May 4 (Interfax) - Moldova's state budget deficit amounted to 3.1 billion lei in January-March 2026, up 40% compared to the same period last year, according to materials from the country's Finance Ministry.

The increase in the deficit was a consequence of an increase in expenditures of 7.3% to 21.54 billion lei, with revenues growing 3.3% to 18.44 billion lei.

Within the revenue structure of the budget, in particular, VAT receipts amounted to 9.19 billion lei (an increase of 6.9%), income tax stood at 3.3 billion lei (+12.2%) and excise duties totaled 2.81 billion lei (+9.8%). Receipts from external grants decreased 85.1% to 146 million lei.

Within the composition of expenditures, allocations for the social sphere amounted to 7.93 billion lei (+1.8%) and for education they stood at 5.2 billion lei (+7%).

According to the state budget law for 2026, its revenues are planned at 79.67 billion lei (4.2% more than actual execution in 2025) and expenditures at 100.57 billion lei (+9.2%), while the deficit will be 20.9 billion lei (+33%) or 5.5% of projected GDP.

In 2025, Moldova's state budget deficit amounted to 15.7 billion lei (4.4% of GDP), up 19% compared to the previous year. Compared to the planned value, the actual deficit was 13.7% lower.

The parameters of the state budget for 2026 are based on a GDP growth forecast of 2.4%. At the beginning of April, the authorities lowered their estimate of economic growth this year to 2.2%.

The official exchange rate on May 4 is 17.22 lei/$1.