Moldovan parliament endorses budget with 5.5% deficit

Dec 29 (Reuters) - Parliament in Moldova approved the 2026 budget on Monday with a deficit of 20.9 billion Moldovan lei, equivalent ?to $1.25 or 5.5% of gross domestic ?product.

Members of the pro-European government's ?Party of Action and Solidarity ?ensured passage ?with 54 votes of 96 deputies in ?the chamber.

The budget provides ?for revenues equivalent to $4.75 billion -- an increase of ?5.1% over the ?2025 ?figure.

The government attributed the rise to "moderate economic growth, supported by favourable external ?conditions, progress in structural reforms and increased investment linked to European integration". It also provides for increases in collection of taxes and other ?revenue-generating ?mechanisms.

Expenditure is set to rise by 7% -- $5.99 billion -- over the ?2025 figure.

State debt is to total the equivalent of $9.29 billion.

President Maia Sandu's administration is committed to securing European Union membership for Moldova, one ?of Europe's poorest countries, by the end of the decade. (Reporting by Alexander Tanas, Writing ?by Ron Popeski; Editing by Alistair Bell)