Fiscal deficit ramps up pressures on Lao government

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith informing the National Assembly that the government will issue bonds for the rest of the year to repay debts. - Vientiane Times

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN): An elevated fiscal deficit will result in growing public debt, which will ramp up pressure on the country’s debt servicing capacity amid the Covid-19 crisis.

The government has estimated the budget deficit will rise from 6.69 trillion kip, equal to 3.7 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), to 10.3 trillion kip (5.7 per cent of the GDP).