Turkey runs budget surplus of $831M in February 2016

ANKARA

Turkey’s government ran a surplus budget of 2.4 billion liras ($831 million) in February this year, Turkish Finance Minister Naci Agbal said Tuesday.

The government's budget surplus during the January-February 2016 period stood at 6.6 billion Turkish liras ($2.3 billion), Agbal said in a statement.

“These results in the first two months indicate the government’s determination to maintain fiscal discipline despite the weak global economy,” he said.

“Fiscal discipline will be maintained in the coming period and it continues to be one of the most important anchors for the stability of our economy,” he added.

The government's expenses for health, pension and welfare increased by 18.9 percent in the first two months of the year to 4.66 billion liras ($1.6 billion) compared with the same period last year.

According to the ministry, Turkish government’s budget revenue reached 91.5 billion Turkish liras ($31.7 billion) in the first two months of the year, which was a 13.9 percent increase compared with the same period last year.

Tax revenue also increased by 12.3 percent within the period to 78.5 billion liras ($27.2 billion). Budget expenditures between January-February rose to 84.8 billion Turkish liras ($29.5 billion), marking a 7.6 percent increase year-on-year.

Interest expenses stood at 9.7 billion liras ($3.36 billion) in that period, a decrease of 18.2 percent.

Government revenue in February stood at 44.7 billion Turkish liras ($15.4 billion) with 11.4 percent increase year-on-year, while budget expenditure was 43.3 billion Turkish liras ($15 billion), down 5 percent from a year earlier.

In 2016, Turkish Finance Ministry estimated that budget expenses for the fiscal year would reach 570.5 billion Turkish liras ($198 billion), while budget income would reach 540.8 billion ($187.5 billion), resulting in a budget deficit of 29.7 billion Turkish liras ($8.6 billion).

The Turkish central government's budget ran a deficit of 22.7 billion Turkish liras ($10.3 billion) in the year.