Turkey runs $7.3B budget deficit during January-August

By Gokhan Ergocun and Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey ran a budget deficit of 25.2 billion Turkish liras (nearly $7.3 billion) in the first eight months of 2017, according to a Finance Ministry report released on Friday.

Between January and August, government revenues reached 408.7 billion Turkish liras (around $118.9 billion), while expenditures stood at 433.8 billion liras (around $126.2 billion), marking a $7.3-billion deficit, the report said.

Government tax revenues hit 343.5 billion Turkish liras (nearly $100 billion) during the same period with a 15.2 percent year-on-year increase.

Interest expenditures, on the other hand, stood at 38.1 billion Turkish liras (some $11.1 billion), marking a 7.7 percent hike compared to the same period of 2016.

Commenting on budget figures, Finance Minister Naci Agbal said that the budget deficit in August stood at 874 million Turkish liras (nearly $254.5 million) while primary surplus was 4.6 billion liras ($1.34 billion).

August tax revenue figures, on the other hand, were up 13.1 percent compared to the year before, Agbal told Anadolu Agency's Editors' Desk.

Government tax revenues rose to 51.4 billion liras ($15 billion) last month, according to the report.

Agbal said there was a significant increase in investment expenditures in the first eight months of the year, adding he expected a considerable increase in tax revenues exceeding expectations.

"Turkey's budget is solid. Despite additional spendings in defense and security, we manage to maintain a balanced budget," Agbal said.

Agbal projected the budget deficit to reach around 60 billion liras ($17.5 billion) at the end of the year, some 13 billion liras (nearly $3.8 billion) over the figure announced last year.

"If we had not taken the [necessary] measures, we would not have caught the rising trend of economic growth. Budget deficit will be 2 percent of the GDP at the end of this year," Agbal said, adding public expenditures, especially current expenditures in 2018 budget, would be limited.

The minister recalled that last year Turkey ran a budget deficit of 27 billion liras ($7.9 billion).

According to Turkish Statistical Institute, the economy grew 5.1 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to April-June 2016 while the government has targeted a growth rate of 4.4 percent by the end of the year.