Turkiye runs $2.2B budget balance surplus in Q1

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The budget balance of the Turkish central government saw a surplus of 30.8 billion Turkish liras ($2.2 billion) in the first quarter, according to data from the Treasury and Finance Ministry on Friday.

The surplus increased by around 50% compared to the same period last year.

Turkiye's budget revenues jumped by 75% year-on-year to 602.5 billion liras ($43.2 billion) last quarter.

The budget expenditures reached 571.7 billion liras ($40.98 billion) in the three-month period, also soaring 78% year-on-year.

Excluding interest payments, the budget balance saw a surplus of 115.65 billion liras ($8.3 billion) last quarter.

Tax revenues reached 455.1 billion liras ($32.6 billion) and interest payments were 84.8 billion liras ($6 billion) in the same period.

The average US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate in the first quarter was around 13.95, while one dollar traded for 14.59 liras on average in March.

- Monthly figures

In March, the budget balance saw a deficit of 68.9 billion Turkish liras ($4.7 billion), versus a surplus of 23.7 billion liras ($3.1 billion) in the same month of last year.

The average US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate in March 2021 was 7.64.

Budget revenues totaled 155.9 billion Turkish liras ($10.7 billion) in the first two months of this year, while expenditures stood at 224.9 billion liras ($15.41 billion).

The budget balance, excluding interest payments, saw a deficit of 42 billion liras ($2.88 billion) in March.