Vietnam’s public debt stood at VND3.8 quadrillion ($158 billion) as of the end of 2023, equal to 37 per cent of the country’s GDP, according to the latest information from the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The figure is lower than the target set by the National Assembly (NA) of 60 per cent and is VND200 trillion ($8.3 billion) lower than an MoF estimate from October, the Government News has reported.

Meanwhile, the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio was around 34 per cent, below the 50 per cent limit set by the NA.

Last year’s budget deficit was estimated at under 4 per cent, totaling $17.2 billion and below the NA’s initial limit of 4.42 per cent.

Vietnam increased investment in infrastructure by over VND760 trillion ($31.6 billion), which represents 35 per cent of the total State budget for public investment and was 1.5-fold higher than in 2022.