State budget collection in the first seven months of this year was estimated 497.36 trillion VND (about 23.4 billion USD), an increase of 14.4 percent over the same period last year.

The amount represents 63.5 percent of the whole year’s estimate, according to the Ministry of Finance.

In July, the ministry signed seven loan agreements worth over 1.1 billion USD.

The ministry completed negotiations and inked 16 loan and assistance agreements with a total committed value at over 2.26 billion USD.

In the first half of this year, the country’s total budget collection reached a year-on-year increase of 14.5 percent to over 335 trillion VND (15.7 billion USD).-VNA