By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's central government budget balance recorded a deficit of some 46 billion Turkish liras ($11.2 billion) in the first half of this year, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance announced on Monday.

This January to June, Turkey's budget revenues totaled 353.6 billion Turkish liras ($86.5 billion), up around 18 percent year-on-year, according to official data.

In the same period, budget expenditures rose nearly 23 percent to 399.7 billion Turkish liras ($97.7 billion) -- marking a 46 billion Turkish lira ($11.2 billion) deficit.

The budget balance, excluding interest payments, saw a deficit of 12.3 billion Turkish liras ($3 billion) in the six-month period.

Official figures showed that tax revenues amounted to 294.8 billion Turkish liras ($72.1 billion) while interest payments were 33.8 billion Turkish liras ($8.2 billion) over the same period.

In 2017, Turkey's budget deficit/GDP ratio was around 1.5 percent -- below the targets noted in the country's Medium-Term Program (MTP).

According to the MTP, the budget deficit/GDP ratio target is 1.9 percent this year, 1.8 percent next year, and 1.6 percent in 2020.